Saga Classic

[The Rogue]

Vikings vs. Welsh ..

[Maniac]

Lovely looking setup.  Saga v1 (Age of Crusades) is still one of the best skirmish wargames.  Great mechanics, and a great nod to the sagas of yester year.

I don't have Welsh, how do they play?  I have Normans, Anglo-Danes, Eastern Crusaders, Early Saxons, Vikings, Templars, and Late Romans (with Goths sitting primed but unpainted).

[The Rogue]

Welsh were my first Saga faction, but I‘m playing not often enough, to really master them. Yesterday they performed well, because it was the first time I really tried to let the victims come to me and react. In melee they are quire brittle, but we had to kill the warlords and my opponent left his quire vulnerable in front of 5 Veterans deep in a wood. One move and a javelin attack, and a wild charge with javelins and a wardance later it was over.

[Maniac]

Welsh were my first Saga faction, but I‘m playing not often enough, to really master them. Yesterday they performed well, because it was the first time I really tried to let the victims come to me and react. In melee they are quire brittle, but we had to kill the warlords and my opponent left his quire vulnerable in front of 5 Veterans deep in a wood. One move and a javelin attack, and a wild charge with javelins and a wardance later it was over.

Yes, you do have to play a board for a while to really get the hang of them.  Some of the Saga abilities work best in conjunction with others, and lack of familiarity can lead to ill timed move choices or putting dice on the wrong things in a turn.

Still, the battleboard mechanic is almost a game within a game, and I love it.

[ulverston]

This game looks really nice and interesting as I have just purchased Saga and a couple of armies. Again that board is really effective, thanks for sharing this.

[Cubs]

I never actually played the game, so clearly I feel I should comment.

From reading other battles and looking at their abilities (or lack of), the Welsh seem like quite a difficult faction to be successful with. Frontal charges and one-on-one combat doesn't seem to be their thang. My impression is that their strengths lie in evasion, manoeuvre and the use of terrain to frustrate the enemy, all the while raining down javelins like relentless bee stings. Have I got it right?

[fred]

I never actually played the game, so clearly I feel I should comment.

From reading other battles and looking at their abilities (or lack of), the Welsh seem like quite a difficult faction to be successful with. Frontal charges and one-on-one combat doesn't seem to be their thang. My impression is that their strengths lie in evasion, manoeuvre and the use of terrain to frustrate the enemy, all the while raining down javelins like relentless bee stings. Have I got it right?

Yes, very much the case.

Back when we were regularly playing Saga one of the group had a Welsh Warband - they varied between very effective and annoying, to almost useless. If they could get the space and terrain then their javelins would be very effective.

[RedRowan]

Great looking game.

Yet to play a proper game of SAGA, only played a few solo games so far to get a feel for the rules but I really like how it plays.

Steve

[James Morris]

That’s a lovely layout!  I have only ever played Welsh and very much enjoy the shoot and scoot philosophy, although it frequently ends badly with the Vikings when they finally get hold of you.

[majorsmith]

Lovely set up!

[mikedemana]

I can't speak for V1, but having played Welsh somewhat extensively in V2, they are VERY effective. In fact, I don't think I lost a game with them in the 7 or 8 times I played them. I went with two 12-man warrior units. I used them as my main attack arm. When using "Wild Charge," it gives you a bonus 6 attack dice for this size unit. That means you're rolling 18 attack dice at +1 for the javelin charging.

I also used a 8-man mounted hearthguard as my linebacker "hammer." Pick your battle, charge where you get an uneven fight in your advantage. They are also particularly effective using the "Our Land" ability to charge on the opponent's turn.

To read some of my battle reports, check out my Lead Legionaries blog. Here's the link for battle reports: http://leadlegionaries.blogspot.com/search/label/Saga%20Battle%20Reports

I do caution you'll have to scroll down quite a bit to get to the Welsh ones, as they were the first army I played using Saga. 

Mike Demana
http://leadlegionaries.blogspot.com/

[SteveBurt]

Welsh in v1 were over-powered. Never lost with them. In v2 they are still strong but the factions in v2 are much better balanced.