Saga - Battle of Brunanburh mega-battle!

This past Saturday was the Saga mega-battle at Giga-Bites cafe, organized by Dave Parente. It was a scenario based on the Battle of Brunanburh in 937 between an Anglo-Saxon (and allied) force and an invading Welsh and Norse-Gael army. The battle (and scenario) are described in the Hail Caesar rules from Warlord Games. As an aside, one of the things I love most about historical gaming is the history. This is a battle I knew nothing about prior to this game, and I enjoyed learning about what really happened, almost as much as playing the game itself.

We (the Durand clan) had been looking forward to this for a while. I'd been able to get a couple more points completed for my Vikings, despite my arm injury. and Iya and Lucas both wanted to have a go with Saga and see what the excitement was about. (Iya had a practice game with Richard last weekend, but Lucas had never played before.)

In typical Durand family fashion, we went all in - turning up at Giga-bites in costume:

Papa Viking accompanied by Lucas and Iya.

My daughter crocheted the beard and helmet for me as a Christmas present a few years ago, and is the crafty genius behind all of our costumes. She just finished the tunic I am wearing on the morning of the big game. We did get some strange looks at the McDonald's where we ate after the game!

Dave sets up the field of battle!

In all, seven brave souls showed up with their various Saga armies, ranging from fully painted to unpainted (as you will see in the photos), and divided up as follows:

Aethelstan's Defending Army:

• Richard took the defenders' right flank, with Breton cavalry and a small mercenary Viking force:

Richard's Bretons and their warlord (right rear).

• Brian held the center, with his Anglo-Danish. (Unfortunately my image of Brian's assembled host is blurry, but I have other "action shots" further down.)

•  Sean commanded his Anglo-Saxons on the left.

Sean's Anglo-Saxons, led by Aethelstan.

Total defending forces:
Breton mounted warlord
1 unit of 8 mounted hearthguard
Viking warlord
1 unit of 4 Hearthguard

Anglo-Danish warlord
2 units of 6 Hearthguard
1 unit of 8 warriors
Aethelstan
2 units of  12 warriors

Aethelstan prepares to defend his kingdom against the invaders.

Olaf Guthfrithson's Invaders:

• My daughter Iya took the Strathclyde Welsh cavalry on the right.

• Dave commanded the center with his Norse-Gaels.

• My son Lucas and I each had a force of Vikings on the left.

Lucas' and my Vikings.

Olaf's invaders:
Owen 1, King of Strathclyde
2 units of 4 mounted Hearthguard
2 units of 8 mounted warriors
Norse-Gael warlord
2 units of 8 warriors

Viking warlord (Lucas)
1 unit of 6 Hearthguard
1 unit of 8 warriors

Viking warlord (Henry)
1 unit of 4 bersekrers
1 unit of 6 Hearthguard

The left flank of the invading force.

We chose to use alternating activations, rolling for initiative and then proceeding in order, alternating between the assaulting and defending forces.

The first couple of turns were spent maneuvering, with some rather ineffective javelin-throwing, as the various warlords moved their forces into position.

Brian measures the advance of his Anglo-Danes.

Iya measures her cavalry advance under Dave's watchful gaze.

Vikings charge!

Anglo-Danes (top) advance into the center.

Following the first few turns of maneuvering, the battle devolved into charge and counter-charge, especially in the center as units were sent into the meatgrinder of combat.

Battle is joined as the Anglo-Danes attack the Norse-Gael.

Lucas' Vikings attack (and eliminate) a unit of Anglo-Dane warriors (bottom).

Sean rolls attack dice against Iya's mounted Welsh.

Iya's Welsh cavalry charges the Angl0-Saxons in the center.

Facing the enemy across the field of battle.

Lucas' Vikings hold the center after killing the Anglo-Danish warlord.

On the left flank, my Berserkers charged the traitorous Vikings facing them, managing to wipe out the enemy unit, but being destroyed in turn. The Bretons charged my surviving Viking warlord, and while they did not kill him, they managed to isolate him by killing off some of his remaining Hearthguard. On his turn, he bravely charged the enemy Viking leader, only to be cut down. (Proving the argument that painted figures roll better dice!)

Berserkers advance ahead of their warlord.

Bretons swarm my Viking warlord.

Death of a warlord!

In the end, after all the bloodshed, the victory went to the defenders! We tallied up victory points for enemy troops killed, and the final result was 43 pts for the victors, and 38 pts for the invaders. As the sun set on a very bloody battlefield, Aethelstan's forces held the field as the invaders retreated to lick their wounds and plot revenge!

Observations: One thing that I did not like, is that what is in my opinion one of Saga's strengths was somewhat missing in the multi-player dynamic. Saga's activation mechanic encourages, I'd almost say requires, players to interrupt their opponent's actions to prevent or modify their actions. Being engaged throughout the whole turn, rather than being able to "tune out" during your opponent's activations as in many I-go-you-go games, is one of Saga's best features. In the multi-player game, when the opposing general on the other side of the battle was moving, there was a sense of not being connected to the battle. Also, the turns (with seven players commanding eight forces) seemed to run a little long. I would love to try this again with just four players (two per side) to see if fewer player makes the game more manageable, and more interactive, like the two-player games are.

Having said that, I feel the game was a huge success! Despite the fact that I was the only general to have his troops wiped out to the man (!), I had a blast. The sportsmanship and fellowship exhibited by Dave, Richard, Brian and Sean is second to none, and Giga-bites has a terrific group of Saga gamers developing

Concentrated gamers.

In fact, Richard is organizing a Saga tournament for some time in September, and I am eagerly looking forward to that.

Iya and Lucas both enjoyed themselves tremendously, and we spent much of the ride home discussing what faction each of them would like to collect and play for Saga. Two new converts to the cause! :)

Next time, I'll share some photos of what I have been able to accomplish, in terms of painting some points for my Vikings, while only having one good arm. And hopefully, now that the brace is completely off my pace will accelerate. My goal is to have all 8 points of vikings painted (I currently have five, with my warlord, 12 archers and 16 warriors left to go) by the time of Richard's tournament. I also want to have at least 6 points of a second warband painted (probably Welsh or Anglo-Saxon) for one of the kids to use.

Star Trek: Attack Wing - Tholian Web OP

I ran  the Star Trek:Attack Wing Tholian Web OP at Giga-Bites Cafe this past Saturday. It was great fun to see the players maneuver their fleets as the web closed in on them.

We had a good mix of fleets represented, with a couple of Borg fleets, a Romulan warbird fleet, and a pair of Federation fleets.

Here's the action:

Romulan warbirds close in on a Borg sphere backed up by fighters and a mine-dropper.

 

Federation starships bracket a Borg sphere prior to blasting it into atoms!

What to do, what to do?

Federation strike force.

Borg sphere!

 

Pair of Borg spheres prepare to engage the enemy!

The warbirds de-cloak to attack!

Good sportsmanship and good competition.

Concentration!

I hope that's an evade!

Measuring range.

Another Borg sphere about to bite the dust!

Dueling minefields (the disabled token is just to differentiate ownership).

Hmmm, I think you are just withing range!

Federation strike force moves into a cloaked minefield!

Good fellowship and competition among siblings.

Assigning a target lock.

Federation starships move against a Borg sphere.

That attack is gonna hurt - I think a Defiant class was killed on that roll.

Two Borg spheres vs. a sphere and a Valdore.

Romulan warbirds track down a Borg sphere that has strayed from its escort.

Measuring range before unleashing a barrage!

OK, now where do the web tokens go?

The Tholian Web closes in!

That's gonna be close!

The Enterprise can't quite make the turn and is destroyed by the Web!

It was a close event, with four players ending up 2-1, so the winner was determined on points. The winning fleet combined a strong Borg sphere with cloaked mines and fighters, and finished with 276 points to the second place finisher's 245.

All in all, this was one of my favorite OP scenarios so far. I loved the tension building as the Webs kept shrinking the playing area. The only regret is that since I was running the event, I did not get to play. But that will be remedied Friday when the store runs another event - and this time I get to play!

'Til next time!

Star Trek:Attack Wing and SAGA

It's been an age (nearly two years) since I last posted. But I felt the urge to share, so I'm back. I've spent the past two years dealing with some family tragedy (both my parents-in-law passed away suddenly) and generally not feeling much like wargaming.

But lately that has begun to change, and  it has taken me in totally different directions - from futuristic science fiction space battles to dark age man-to-man combat!

About six months ago, the kids and I discovered Wizkids' Star Trek:Attack Wing. We've been going to the organized play events at three different local venues (Giga-Bites Cafe, Dr. No's and Titan Comics and Games), and enjoying it tremendously. It's the first game that all three of us have gotten into, and the first time we've participated in any sort of officialy-sanctioned competitive environment. Despite my initial fears that the uber-competitors would make it unpleasant, exactly the opposite has been true. We've run into three groups (with some overlap) of very friendly gamers, who have been very supportive of our participation. In particular, they have been generous and gracious to the kids, who are an oddity in that environment. My son Lucas, 13 years old, is the youngest participant by far, and my daughter Iya, 16 years old, is the second-youngest and almost always the only female. We've won, and lost, our share of events, but the main thing is that we've all had a great time learning and playing the game. I am hopeful that we'll be able to use this experience to branch out into other miniature wargames that the kids and I will be able to share.

The other game that has been taking one of our local stores (Giga-Bites Cafe in Marietta) by storm is Saga, from Gripping Beast, rules for dark age skirmish gaming. In fact, the rules themselves are almost impossible to get right now, and despite that there is a growing group of gamers that are getting into the game.

I am just beginning to assemble a Viking warband for Saga. I still don't have the rules myself, but from what I've been able to gather, except for the option of fielding a unit of Hearthguard as Berserkers there is no difference between how else I equip my figures.

I had several Wargames Factory Vikings and Germanic Warriors that I had built, but never based or painted to actually use in a game. I also had a Middenheim champion from Mordheim that I thought would make an impressive Warlord. But I did not have enough for a complete warband, so I broke down and bought the Gripping Beast starter box for a 4-point Viking Warband. Between what I had, and the box, I can put together a 6-point plus warband.

I have started to assemble some of the GB figures, and form them up into units with my other figures. The photo below shows my fledgeling warband. The Warlord is at the top. Below him the unpainted metal figures are GBs Berserkers and Hirdmen. Below those are two units of plastic Vikings that will make up more Hirdmen. At the bottom are a unit of 12 Bondi with spears, and half a unit of Bondi with hand weapons. I still have the 16 metal Bondi from the starter set to assemble, as well as the Warlord figure.

I'll post more details as I get them painted and into the fray. So far though I am very pleased with how the GB and Wargames Factory figures go together. My only disappointment is the selection of Hirdmen that came in the starter set. I understand the image on the box is merely representative, but I got all four figures with the integrally molded shield who look best as spearmen. I was hoping for some of the more dynamic poses from GB such as are shown on the box image. Going forward, I think I will likely either go with plastics so I can convert to my heart's desire, or buy specific packs of figures rather than another boxed set.

My goal for the rest of this week is to get these guys based and primed, and hopefully be able to start on the painting. (Life is very full right now, with family - two teen-aged kids - and work making it difficult to find time to wargame, and I am a very slow painter as it is, so I make no promises on how long it will actually take me to get this done! Perhaps by the time I get a copy of the rules and dice I will have at least enough troops to put a small force on the table.)

Learning Dystopian Wars

On Saturday, we made it to Giga-Bites to meet with David Boeren, who graciously agreed to show us the Dystopian Wars ropes.

I've got the rulebook, and have read it, but it is always good to have someone who knows what they are doing around for the first few games. It is one thing to read a mechanic, but I find it easier to see it in action. I learn better by doing than by reading.

David and I had exchanged messages on the Spartan Games forum, and were able to agree on a Saturday afternoon. I brought Iya and Lucas with me, as they were both interested in finally getting a game in. Lucas has been excited about this since the first time he saw a Samurai rocket trooper in the book. Iya is a bit more reserved, but is always game to try something new.

We got there right on time, and David was finishing up a game of Warmachine. While he did that, the kids were able to get something to eat. One of the very cool things about gaming at Giga-Bites is the food! It is always great, and not having to worry about where to feed the kids when they are gaming with me is priceless.

We soon got out a flat, blue board to represent the sea, tossed some islands on it, and got down to learning the game. Since Lucas is planning on collecting an Empire of the Blazing Sun fleet, and I am going to go with the Federated States of America, we decided to use those models for our game. That's another advantage of having David show us the game - he has four fully painted fleets! As usual, my children decided to team up against me, with Iya and Lucas playing the Blazing Sun fleet and me taking the FSA. Each of the opposing fleets had a battleship, three cruisers, six frigates, five tiny flyer fighters and five tiny flyer bombers.

David started off by doing a quick rundown of the rules for the kids. He was extremely patient, and explained the turn sequence, movement and basic firing. As mentioned, I was familiar with the rules from reading them, but it makes a world of difference to actually put them into action.

The kids ponder the rules.

The Blazing Sun fleet was deployed in a very geometric, symmetrical pattern. Oh, and when my son finished his Gatorade the empty bottle was placed in the corner as additional terrain - some sort of steampunk nuclear reactor cooling tower!

Lucas places the cooling tower.

Initially the Blazing Sun frigates came up and were able to sink one of my frigates using rockets. It helps, and David can corroborate this, that my kids rolled exceptionally well all day, being able to score multiple hits over and over again. In the meantime, my fortune was running true to form, and I was unable to inflict damage even when rolling ten or so dice at a a time...

The battle developed slowly, with the frigates exchanging fire, each side suffering some casualties, but nothing major.

The kids moved their cruisers up, and turned them to face my ships with their powerful broadsides. They were able to cause a fire on the shield generator on my battleship, but the damage was not too bad, at least not yet.

The kids plan their next move.

Blazing Sun cruisers turn to fire their broadsides!

Meanwhile, Blazing Sun aircraft came in to mop up the last remaining small FSA ship. My bombers also went in, and were jumped by enemy fighters. While they disrupted my attack, it was costly, as my fighters swooped in to protect the bombers, wiping out the Imperial fighters in the ensuing dogfight. At this point, all my frigates were gone, and I had managed to destroy three opposing frigates.

Frigates engage.

The FSA frigate "screen" is reduced to one ship!

David offers advice to the kids.

With the FSA cruisers having such strong main turrets, I steamed straight into the teeth of the enemy line, managing to sink one of my Blazing Sun conterparts. Meanwhile, the battleships exchanged some shots, but were unable to do more than scratch each other's paint.

FSA cruisers steam into the attack!

How do I sink the FSA battleship?

Since it was a learning game, the game play was a bit slow, and we decided to make the third turn our last since we had to get going. Now the Blazing Sun fleet unleashed its full fury on my cruisers, managing to sink one. In return, I think I was able to send one more Imperial frigate beneath the waves. After another round of ineffectual firing from our big ships, the turn ended.

FSA cruisers take a pounding. The center ship is mortally wounded!

The battleships square off.

Final tally: I sank four Blazing Sun frigates and a cruiser, and destroyed all the enemy fighters, and a pair of bombers. The kids managed to completely wipe out both my squadrons of frigates (six ships) and a cruiser, and shot down a pair of fighters. The battleships each took some damage, although mine was burning as well. All in all, although close, we agreed that the victory went to the kids. Without screening frigates, my cruisers were very exposed, and the best option for my wounded battleship was to slink off for repairs.

Final fleet positions.

So, what did we think of the game?

I loved it! I cannot wait to get my own fleet for this game. It was a ton of fun, and although it was not simple it was very streamlined. The basic mechanic of "exploding" dice is terrific. (i.e., if you roll a six it counts as two hits and you can roll again. Theoretically, if you continue to roll sixes you can do unlimited damage.) And it is consistent - it is used for shooting attacks, torpedo attacks, rocket attacks, boarding attacks, bombing attacks, air combat, etc. Once you have it down, the rest of the game falls into place beautifully.

David used small colored cubes to indicate damage, crew losses, and fuel status for the flyers. I liked it, but it was a bit clunky to move four or five cubes, for example, each time you moved a tiny flyer base. I think there are other options out there for recording fuel consumption that I think will work better for me. Whether that will be using small dice, flight stands or dials attached to the tokens themselves, I am not sure yet.

What I am sure of, is that I am hooked on this game! I am already looking at when I can free up some time on a Saturday to get together with David again. In the meantime I will work on assembling a fleet of my own. Speaking of David, I cannot thank him enough. As I mentioned he was gracious and patient, and very encouraging with the kids. He'd seen some of Lucas' drawings on the Spartan games forum, and made sure to compliment him. Lucas was very excited to meet someone who had seen his pictures online.

As for the kids... Iya thought the rules were a little complex, but thought it was interesting that you had such a variety of offensive options from which to choose, and that you could use multiple weapons to attack on each activation. Lucas liked it quite a bit. He says the only downside is that they didn't get to sink my battleship, although the highlight of the game for him was wiping out my frigate squadrons! He thinks the game's complexity is "just right" - not too difficult too learn, but not too easy either. His favorite thing in the game are the Samurai rocket troopers. (Which is why he did not miss an opportunity to attempt to board my ships, even when his assault troops were seriously outnumbered! Both assaults proved to be suicidal, as all the attacking and defending troops were wiped out each time.)

And, Lucas was inspired to draw another scene - this one depicting a dogfight between Prussian and FSA planes:

Prussian and FSA flyers dogfighting

So the verdict is in, and this game is a winner! Apart from it being a terrific miniatures game, the richness and depth of the background that Neil and the Spartan Games crew have managed to cram into just the first rulebook is astounding! So, thanks to Spartan Games and David, my family now has a new obsession - steampunk naval combat!

'Til next time.