Some Q's about SAGA

[Galland]

Oh yez Oh yez...

Good gentles of the LAF, defenders of the Holy Dice, holders of the Most Honorable Gaming Ethics, The Ruler of Vengance, let it be known to all and singular, that we, the good people of Gallow Falls Wargaming Society have some questions to you exalted members of this fine subpart of the forum regarding the fine game of SAGA.

As I said above, we do have some questions regarding the gaming system known as SAGA. Mainly I would like to know the basic system, ie. what kind of game it is. There are some strong oppinions against this game in our society and gaming group, due to various rumours that it is a DBA like game, would that be the truth, or are my fellow society memebers just whining and lying to be let of the Painting More Miniatures Hook?

Sonny

[LeadAsbestos]

Get it, play it. Addictive and fun. By no means is it a historical recreation, but for a fun afternoon bash, it just can't be beat! (Though I am waiting anxiously for the Lardies Arthurian rules... )

[matakishi]

Nothing like DBA at all.
Basically: You buy your warband up to an agreed points total, 4 points to start 6 once you know what you're doing. 1 point buys 4 Hearthguards, or 8 warriors or 12 levies. There are variations depending on nationality, Vikings can buy beserkers for example.

In your go you roll your Saga dice and place them on your Saga board. The dice symbols can be used to activate units or invoke special abilities specific to your army type. Your dice pool in depleted as you lose units so, if you start to take losses, your options are narrowed.

Once you've decided where to allocate your dice you may activate your unit(s). For instance: Each dice on the 'warriors' section of the Saga board lets you activate a warriors unit which can do an action; move, shoot, rest are the basic options. You can spend the dice on the same unit if you like so a single unit does multiple actions.

Multiple actions tends to add fatigue to a unit until they rest.

that's pretty much it. You need to plan ahead as some special actions are only triggered by your opponent so you need to decide what you want to do and what they're likely to do also when placing your dice each turn. Stringing multiple moves and special actions on a single unit can produce some spectacular feats of heroism (if they work) and ensure that your warlord's saga is a good one.

Lose your warlord and it's all over.

The game is scenario driven, involves 25-73 miniatures per side and is played on a 120cm x 90cm table for 28mm miniatures.

I bought the rules a week ago but haven't played it, looks great, currently rebasing my Vikings for a game (they're multi based at the moment and need to be on singles).

[Drunkendwarf]

Not sure if you already have been there but they have their forum dedicated to SAGA:

http://studiotomahawk.freeforums.org/

DJ

[guitarheroandy]

As the chap above says (he posted while I was typing and I couldn't be bothered to start again... ) It's a skirmish game that uses very simple dice mechanics for combat and shooting, but uses a pretty unique 'battleboard' system of activating units and playing faction-specific special rules. This aspect makes sure that no two games are ever quite the same, as you have to allocate dice to your battle board in order to do things each turn. It's a game where you have to think ahead and where you have to make decisions about where to stack abilities, who to activate when, etc. Alos, depending on your gaming style, you can choose a faction that suits you...I play Welsh as they chuck loads of javelins (i.e. fight from a distance) and run away a lot (not sure what that says about me!), although the new Breton faction does this even better, so my allegiance may shift to them soon!!!! If you favour the basic CHAAAARGE!!!! tactic, go with Vikings, as they kick ass! The others all have key traits that make them unique too...

It's not a simulation, but is a very fine game with period flavour. I love it!! Most people I have introduced it to have been hooked from the start.

Negatives that most people cite are:

Price: It's an expensive softback book and costs a lot! That's true, can't be denied.
Dice: You can buy faction dice with the specific symbols on. These cost a fortune and are proving a pain in the ass to get as the supplier is rubbish, leaving the manufacturers with red faces a lot of the time. However, I played last week and left my Welsh dice at home(DOH!) so I used D6 and it worked fine...So it's not a problem, and you can even make your own dice by printing out Dice sheets and sticking the symbols on an ordinary blank die...

Overall, if the cost doesn't bother you (at least warbands aren't too expensive, as you only need 30-40 ish models) and if you are happy to use D6 or make your own faction dice, give it a whirl. It's great fun and nothing like any other game I know of.

[axabrax]

Like DBA? Huh? 

Saga's quite fun and incredibly unique.  Very adaptable too. I am currently using it for the Crusades and also plan on using it for Mongol Conquest. They will also be coming out with an Arthurian variant which I am really psyched for. Low investment figure-wise which means not too much to paint and easy to get others into the game. Agreed that it's not an historical simulation but very flavorful and probably a lot more fun than a simulation would be. 

The one flaw is the dice--they are a bit expensive, but the really problem is that they simply aren't available. This has been an issue since the beginning. I have tried playing using regular dice and it's not nearly as intuitive as using the game-designed dice.

I really can't recommend the game highly enough. I think it has a bright future. If not for the dice problem I'd give it a 10 out of 10.

[Rich J]

Best 'game' skirmish wise I have ever played (including mine) - it is fun and very addictive, grognards tend not to like the 'game' aspect but the  battleboard means the very simple mechanics are given a very very different life.

You can download the dice symbols to use on blank dice or use d6 instead which is easy and all we had to start with. The actual dice were an 'afterthought' so I believe anyway.

Mike Hobbs (officially owned Gripping Beast slave) and I chat to Neil about the game for a couple of hours in the new Meeples and Miniatures podcast which outlines most of the mechanics etc.

[Galland]

Ah, well the reason for me asking all this, is that I have seen quite a lot of posts about SAGA along with fine miniatures. However, I am afraid that I, and most of my gaming group, might be refered to as grognards, and I dont belive this will be for us.

Thanks for all the help and the explenations, much appreciated.

[Mindenbrush]

I quite like Pig Wars that is available from the author - Tod Kershner - as a download. I have played a few times without problems and am looking at finding a way to reward warband 'survivors' so they start to build characters.

My personal view is that Saga seems to be going down the GW/FOW road where you can only have a game if you buy all the "accessories".

[LeadAsbestos]

Except the only accessories are the dice and you don't need to buy them. I played a few games now, with my own marked dice and handmade measuring sticks, and we had a great time!

[belteshazzar]

I found the following detailed review by an LAF member very helpful:

http://daleswargames.blogspot.co.uk/2012/12/saga-review-and-test-battle.html

[Gracchus Armisurplus]

[mdauben]

There are some strong oppinions against this game in our society and gaming group, due to various rumours that it is a DBA like game, would that be the truth, or are my fellow society memebers just whining and lying to be let of the Painting More Miniatures Hook?

Wow!  I would be hard pressed to identify a less DBA-like game than SAGA!  As others have already said, SAGA is a skirmish game, played with one or two dozen individual based (usually 28mm) figures. 

[kuba]

If I would want to play Saga with medieval armies (or possibly game of thrones factions using rules for medieval forces) should I buy both Saga rulebook and Crescent and Cross rulebook or I can play the game with just Crescent and Cross?

Edit: ok, it seems like the Crescent and Cross contains full Saga rules, so please ignore my incometence in using search function and google 

[Ogrob]

I've been playing my Starks as anglo-danes in an Age of the Wolf campaign and it has worked really well. Might get some cavalry and move on to playing as Rus Princes which seem like a really good thematic fit.

My point being that it's pretty flexible.