Using Saga rules for Fantasy factions? Some more thoughts...

[Sir Barnaby Hammond-Rye]

Just picked up the Saga rules and I am liking all the faction-specific abilities. Has anyone tried making Battle Cards (or whatever they are called) for fantasy factions? I've been starting to mull over some ideas but just thought I'd ask...

Howard

[Lowtardog]

Not sure, I have been following a similar project on their forum for samurai so may be best place to have a look as being blinkered I didnt notice anything

[elysium64]

I am planning to adapt the Saga rules for my Runequest/Glorantha project as I think they will work very well, hoping to incorporate some magic effects on to battleboards. Nothing done yet as I am painting the figures first.

[Sir Barnaby Hammond-Rye]

hoping to incorporate some magic effects on to battleboards.

Yes, I think some of it would be on the battle boards and some of it would be special rules for specific units.

[Commander Roj]

I like what i hear about Saga (who wouldnt?) but dark ages leaves me cold. i would certainly be interested in experiments with a fantasy version.

[Sir Barnaby Hammond-Rye]

I've been thinking of a Dol Amroth faction, as I've been partial to the Swan Knights ever since I first saw the Der Kriegspieler "Fantastiques" versions back in the day. I think GW mounted versions are quite nice but their foot knights are crap in comparison so I will be using High Elf Phoenix Guards. I have been picking them up in dibs and drabs at flea markets for a year or so now so I should have enough for a couple of bands of Warriors at least. The mounted knights will be Hearthguard as per the Normans. I think the Phoenix Guard's halberds could use the Dane Axe rule. For the levy, I am thinking they would have "Retainers" who would probably be archers. I am thinking from the Perry's plastic medievals, but I have some Bretonnians on hand, so maybe I will just use them, if they don't look to clunky besides the others.

Haven't worked out the battleboard yet but I think some of the Norman cavalry abilities would certainly fit. I want to think up some unique stuff as well though...

[Mason]

Sounds promising.
I will be keeping an eye on your progress.

[ogryn]

I have been toying with Trolls. I will post when i get something done.

[phreedh]

Been looking for a site to read up on SAGA. Where the hell do I start? Is there an official site other than the Gripping Beast online shop?

[Slayer]

Been looking for a site to read up on SAGA. Where the hell do I start? Is there an official site other than the Gripping Beast online shop?

http://studiotomahawk.freeforums.org/index.php , hope that helps

[tomek917]

I've been toying with a Game of Thrones (A song of Ice and Fire) version, haven't got very far. The battleboards are definitely the hardest part.

But I've got some miniatures on the way and some quick notes, might be something some day!

[Sir Barnaby Hammond-Rye]

I think the key - and where I have been starting - is to think about the character/theme of the army and try and relate it to how the existing battle boards are done. That is, are they aggressive (Vikings) or defensive (Anglo-Danes), what special tactics do they use (ie. Shieldwall from the Anglo-Danes board), do they have a strong mounted contingent (Normans) or use Hit-and-run tactics (Welsh/Bretons), do they cause fear (I interpret the Loki Viking ability as the vikings causing fear in the depleted units), etc.

I am thinking of how it might be done for both sci/fi and fantasy (inc. LOTR) and am taking bits from different boards as appropriate plus adding some of my own. It may be that some factions have several boards depending upon their make-up. For example, some factions might have regular army, raiders (fast attack) options, etc.

[Sir Barnaby Hammond-Rye]

Recently I have been thinking of how to use the basic rules for WW2 or retro sci/fi (ie. Flash Gordon) games. I decided that for something like WW2 it would probably be more a platoon sized action with the warlord being the platoon leader and with a few squads under him. This means moving a way from the mix of troop types in the standard saga game as a platoon would likely have more-or-less the same grade of troops.

What I thought would be better would to use the first column of the battleboard a little differently. The first box would allow shooting only - something the soldiers would be do more easily as they don't have to leave cover - so it gets the "all dice" option. The next box (4 out of 6 to activate) would be the "maneuver" box. This would allow the squad to move, and fire if it wanted with a second activation; the idea being that it is harder to get the troops moving once they have found a nice bit of cover. The third box (3 out of 6) would be the "assault" box - this being the hardest thing to motivate the troops to do.

I've also been thinking of how it could be used for Dungeon Delving with each battleboard being for one hero. I'm thinking the activations as above - or perhaps allowing for hirelings. The ten special boxes would be for the heroes special abilities. Perhaps at lower rankings not all the boxes would have abilities, or perhaps the abilities would get more powerful as the hero goes up in rank. One option would be to have a plastic card sleeve which you loaded up with abilities and which you changed as the hero rose in ranking. There could be a group of abilities for each class: mage, barbarian, cleric, amazon, thief, etc.Some could be spells for the mages, for example.

The basic boxes could be: shoot/cast spell or "miracle"; move (& shoot); assault (inc shooting); activation bonus; combat bonus.

The basic cantrips/low level "miracles" would not require a slot on the battleboard, but the more powerful stuff would.

Hirelings could be activated by a die or the hero could use it himself - or having a hireling could be an option on the battleboard. A "retinue" option, for example, which sort of makes sense as low ranking characters don't often have hirelings.

Anyway, just some thoughts...

[Sir Barnaby Hammond-Rye]

If a retinue was a slot on the battleboard it could be activated by the use of any die, with an additional die on the basic activation boxes to determine the type of activation. This meaning the retinue costs more to do things independent of the hero. The hero could still have the warlord abilities so the retinue could still do what he was doing per usual.