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Author Topic: Koyote's SAGA Britons, Irish, & Late Romans  (Read 88973 times)

Offline Sangennaru

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Re: Koyote's SAGA Britons, Irish, & Other Stuff
« Reply #285 on: October 01, 2019, 07:34:11 AM »
Very well done! Everything is blending together very well!

Offline Grumpy Gnome

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Re: Koyote's SAGA Britons, Irish, & Other Stuff
« Reply #286 on: March 16, 2020, 03:27:40 AM »
At the risk of being accused of necromancy, I only just came across this amazing thread and had to try to find words to express just how incredible it is. Part of me wishes I found it sooner but another part realizes some of the magnificence of the work would have escaped me at my earlier skill level.

So much thought going into the background and the execution, especially those baggage pieces. And such generosity in explaining techniques. Absolute respect. Thank you for continuing to inspire and more so to teach.
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Offline duivelindoosje

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Re: Koyote's SAGA Britons, Irish, & Other Stuff
« Reply #287 on: March 22, 2021, 12:53:22 PM »
like Rick W i only saw that post recently, AMAZING

Offline Koyote

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Re: Koyote's SAGA Britons, Irish, & Other Stuff
« Reply #288 on: March 23, 2021, 03:57:21 PM »
Thank you for the kind word Rick W and duivelindoosje. 

I really enjoyed building the Britons warband.  It allowed me to delve into a history and mythology that I am familiar with and quite fond of.  Best of all, since it was part of an Adepticon doubles-tournament project, it allowed me to share the Adepticon experience with a good friend of mine.  We got to play against (and lose to) THE Andy Lyons.  We went 2 and 1, placed second overall, and won the Champions of Kings prize (best general?). Good times.

The Britons remains my favorite SAGA project of all time.

Offline Too Bo Coo

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Re: Koyote's SAGA Britons, Irish, & Other Stuff
« Reply #289 on: March 23, 2021, 04:11:30 PM »
Thank you for the kind word Rick W and duivelindoosje. 

I really enjoyed building the Britons warband.  It allowed me to delve into a history and mythology that I am familiar with and quite fond of.  Best of all, since it was part of an Adepticon doubles-tournament project, it allowed me to share the Adepticon experience with a good friend of mine.  We got to play against (and lose to) THE Andy Lyons.  We went 2 and 1, placed second overall, and won the Champions of Kings prize (best general?). Good times.

The Britons remains my favorite SAGA project of all time.

Mine too, perusing those pages is glorious! I would love your feedback on my own Britons project!

https://leadadventureforum.com/index.php?topic=129855.0
"A little nonsense now and then, is relished by the wisest men."
-Willy Wonka

Offline Koyote

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Re: Koyote's SAGA Britons, Irish, & Other Stuff
« Reply #290 on: October 04, 2021, 06:38:54 PM »
It's time for some threadomancy.



After a 3 year hiatus, I hope to attend the Adepticon 2022 Saga tournaments.  To limit the number of warbands I have to transport via my carry-on, I had hoped to use my Moors (or Mutatawwia) as Umayyads in the Age of Viking tournament(s).  However, if the 2022 Age of Viking rules match the most recently published Adepticon AoV rules (2020), then warbands from the the Old Friends, New Enemies warbands will not be allowed.

As a fall back plan, I am going to prepare my Irish for the trip.  I don't want to simply reuse an old warband.  Additionally, the V2 Irish warband is more focused shooting than the original Irish warband, so some updates are in order.

My new list will include 2 units of Levy slingers. One unit will be the levy that I painted for the original warband, but didn't use in the Adepticon tournament.  The second unit will be an entirely new unit, converted from Wargames Atlantic's brilliant Dark Age Irish Warriors kit. 

My only criticism of the Wargames Atlantic kit is that out of 30 models the kit includes only enough slings to arm 5 models with slings. WTF!?!?  What use is 5 slingers?

I made my original unit of Irish slingers from the Gripping Beast Dark Age Warrior kit, which includes plenty of sling bits.  However, the GB hands are noticeably larger than the hands on the Wargames Atlantic Irish models, so I couldn't perform simple hand swaps.  Instead, I carefully carved each hand into the shape of a small peg, and then inserted that peg into a hole I drilled in the hand of each Wargames Atlantic model.  Since the pegs aren't long enough to stick out from the bottom of the Wargames Atlantic hands, when I removed the original weapons (mostly javelins), I took care to leave a little nub sticking out of the bottom of each hand.






I'm quite fond of the Wargames Atlantic hound models, so I am going to replace my current hounds with WA hounds.

Also, if the Adepticon Age of Viking tournament allows Swords for Hire units, my plan is to include a unit of Gall-Gaedhil.  I assembled the "foreign Gaels" from Footsore Miniatures' Viking and Irish model lines.  The plastic axes and swords come from the Victrix Viking kit.  The shields are made by Brother Vinni Miniatures.



Offline Little Odo

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Re: Koyote's SAGA Britons, Irish, & Other Stuff
« Reply #291 on: October 04, 2021, 07:47:14 PM »
Looking great so far. Now to get some colours on them.
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Offline Codsticker

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Re: Koyote's SAGA Britons, Irish, & Other Stuff
« Reply #292 on: October 04, 2021, 09:07:24 PM »
That's the way t do it! Nice work!

Offline Koyote

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Re: Koyote's SAGA Britons, Irish, & Other Stuff
« Reply #293 on: October 26, 2021, 05:37:17 PM »
I played my first game with my Irish in V.2.  It was a 6 point match against Anglo Danes. 

Irish: Warlord (javelins), 1 Curaidh (javelins), 6 HG (javelins), 2 x 8 Warriors (javelins), and 2 x 12 Levy (slings)

Anglo-Danes: Warlord (hvy wpn), 2 x 6 HG (hvy wpn), 3 x 8 Warriors (no equip)

We played the Battle of Heroes scenario and randomly drew all 5 cards.  The Irish board is shooty and 3 of the 10 advanced abilities rely on uneven terrain, so you can imagine my dismay when we drew the Fog card (no shooting over 6" for the first 3 turns) and the Marshy Country card (the first 2 pieces of terrain must be dangerous terrain and then die rolls determine when terrain placement ends).   After placing the marshes I placed a piece of uneven terrain centrally and my opponent placed woods in a corner, then terrain set up ended. 

We drew the Confusion card for deployment so, the deployment zone was a lengthwise diagonal.  We rolled for table edge after terrain was set up, and my opponent won the roll, so I ended up with wide open deployment zone with woods far to my rear.  The victory condition card was Carnage, which determines victory by survival points and awards 2 bonus points for each unit more than 12" away from its starting board edge.  Since the terrain and Fog meant that I would spend the first 3 turns falling back, I was unlikely to earn any of the bonus points for being more than 12" from my table edge. 

In essence, the game began with my opponent having every advantage, and me wondering if the Irish was the warband I wanted to bring to Adepticon.



As planned, I spent the first three turns falling back.  This wasn't much fun for my opponent, but thankfully he empathized with my predicament and didn't hold it against me. 

At the end of Turn 3, the fog lifted and the Irish had their backs to the table edge. 



Leary of my massed shooting and concerned about building up fatigue chasing me, my opponent didn't double activate to catch up with me during his first four turns, which may have been a mistake on his part.  At the bottom of Turn 4, I was in a good position to unleash a hail of sling stones and javelins, decimating a unit of Anglo Dane warriors and damaging a second unit.  My opponent struck back on Turn 5, but did so piecemeal, so my casualties were limited to my Curaidh and a unit of warriors.

The game went six turns, but for all intents and purposes ended on the bottom of Turn 5 when Irish's stones and javelins eliminated a unit hearthguard, which spread fatigue to the surrounding Anglo Danes and opened up a charge lane to my opponent's warlord.  The Irish Fianna brought down the Anglo Dane warlord, but it cost me 5 of my 6 hearthguard.  When measured by Survival points, it was an uneven trade, but it reduced the Anglo Danes to 2 Saga dice and left them without the benefit of the Warlord and his We Obey ability, so on balance the exchange favored the Irish.



The Anglo Danes started their Turn 6, but soon realized it was pointless to continue, so we called it there.  Victory to the Irish raiders.

I began the game with quite a few disadvantages specific to my warband's battle board and build, but my opponent's cautiousness and the composition of his warband (all infantry and no archers) gave me the time I needed to regroup and exploit my warband's advantages. 

After playing this game, I've decided to stick with 2 units of Levy slingers, so these fellows are next in line to get some paint.



« Last Edit: October 26, 2021, 07:46:13 PM by Koyote »

Offline Ogrob

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Re: Koyote's SAGA Britons, Irish, & Other Stuff
« Reply #294 on: October 26, 2021, 05:42:27 PM »
Haven't played my Irish in a bit, but yeah, I found them a little bit rock - paper -scissor, where sometimes they are fantastic and sometimes the situation is really rough. Fun to play though. My list is similar to yours, but 2 Curaidh and no HG, more warriors instead.

Offline Koyote

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Re: Koyote's SAGA Britons, Irish, & Other Stuff
« Reply #295 on: October 26, 2021, 10:04:15 PM »
Haven't played my Irish in a bit, but yeah, I found them a little bit rock - paper -scissor, where sometimes they are fantastic and sometimes the situation is really rough. Fun to play though. My list is similar to yours, but 2 Curaidh and no HG, more warriors instead.
Being able to wriggle out of the predicament I was in from the game’s outset, has given me some confidence that my Irish lads can face long odds and still do well.

I get the impression that most Irish players use 2 Curaidh, but I'm not yet convinced this is the best choice for me.  The Curaidh are certainly beneficial for the The Old Way and Sidhe abilities, but their fragility makes them a liability early to mid-game when enemy units are still at full strength.  The rank-and-file Irish are fragile enough as it is. The last thing I want is clever player targeting a vulnerable Curaidh in order to splash fatigue over nearby units.

Then again, I do recognize a number of advantages to having a second Curaidh.  It gives the Irish a spare hero in the event that the other Curaidh is eliminated. It makes the The Old Way more effective.  In certain scenarios, it gives the Irish an extra unit (that can activate for free) to grab objectives.  It also provides a spare unit to sacrifice in a suicide run against a warlord or other target.

Decisions, decisions…

Like you, if I do field 2 Curaidh, I'd likely opt for a unit of 8 warriors over the remaining 4 HG.

« Last Edit: October 28, 2021, 08:35:47 PM by Koyote »

Offline Knight-Captain Tyr

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Re: Koyote's SAGA Britons, Irish, & Other Stuff
« Reply #296 on: October 30, 2021, 03:55:05 PM »
Koyote, I've been stealthily going through your SAGA logs and stealing inspiration just as I'm finally getting into the game myself. Thanks for the inspiration, these logs have been a real joy to read.

If I may, I have a question not immediately connected (I don't think) to any of your recent work in this thread. When you worked on your Pagan Rus, you built a couple vignettes to represent advanced abilities, with some really interesting trees. Could you tell me where you got these trees from if it's not a hassle?

" ... the seventh wave of Thrall stumbled and climbed over the slippery, piled dead and Mazzarin saw The Watcher with them and at last knew the number of his days."

-Thrall Flavor Text, Myth: The Fallen Lords

Offline Koyote

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Re: Koyote's SAGA Britons, Irish, & Other Stuff
« Reply #297 on: October 31, 2021, 12:35:37 AM »
Koyote, I've been stealthily going through your SAGA logs and stealing inspiration just as I'm finally getting into the game myself. Thanks for the inspiration, these logs have been a real joy to read.

If I may, I have a question not immediately connected (I don't think) to any of your recent work in this thread. When you worked on your Pagan Rus, you built a couple vignettes to represent advanced abilities, with some really interesting trees. Could you tell me where you got these trees from if it's not a hassle?
They are limbs from Games Workshop’s Citadel Woods kit.


Offline Blackwolf

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Re: Koyote's SAGA Britons, Irish, & Other Stuff
« Reply #298 on: October 31, 2021, 06:09:20 AM »
Smashing thread! Good to see the RBG miniature too 8)
Your thread has inspired me to do a Saga force using Lucid Eye Miniatures,just have to find someone to play…
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Offline Koyote

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Re: Koyote's SAGA Britons, Irish, & Other Stuff
« Reply #299 on: November 02, 2021, 07:19:24 AM »
This last weekend I finished painting a unit of Greek peltasts for my AoH Epirote warband.  Before tackling yet another unit of Levy (Irish slingers), I opted to tackle a smaller project and give a "facelift" to some Irish models that I painted in 2017.

In Saga 1.0, Irish warriors had the same melee armor value as warriors from other Dark Age warbands, and they could close ranks (i.e. form a shield wall).  The models I used were unarmored, so to distinguish them from Levy, I equipped them with large round shields and hefty plastic spears that I sourced from a online bits supplier.  As in Saga 2.0, the 1.0 Irish warriors were armed with javelins, so I equipped about half of my warrior models with wire javelins as well as spears.   

Now that the Irish's stats, rules, and play style have changed somewhat, I've elected to refresh the Irish models that I will bring with me to the Adepticon 2022 Saga tournaments to reflect the 2.0 Irish.

For starters, I replaced their large round shields with small round shield from Wargames Atlantic's Dark Age Irish kit.  The decals are LBM transfers made to fit Footsore Miniatures' Irish bucklers. 

I also replaced all of the plastic spears with the thinner, wire javelins.  This task was tricky, as it involved some careful snipping, drilling, and repainting.

I touched up any chips, refreshed some top layers, and repainted their flesh tones.

Lastly, I removed the original grass tufts, repainted the bases, and added new tufts.  The flowers add a nice splash of color to the bases and match the yellow on the bucklers.

Overall, I'm pleased with the results.  Eight down, eight more warriors to go.


« Last Edit: November 02, 2021, 02:44:56 PM by Koyote »

 

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