Army/force sizes for Saga Crescent and the Cross?

[dm]

Have been putting together a small 28mm Anglo/Norman force for a while and thinking of using it for an early Crusade setting and wondering about force sizes for SAGA Crescent and the Cross.

So far i have painted and based 16x spearman, 6xmixed foot Knights, 6x Crossbow, 6xArchers, 6xMounted Knights inc command and a mix of civilian/pilgrim and clergy types.

Any help on army/ force sizes would be great thank you

[Too Bo Coo]

Saga is a very simple system

Generic Warlord = Free
Every 4 Hearthguard (elites) = 1 pt
Every 8 Warriors (Regular) = 1 pt
Every 12 Levy (Levy) = 1 pt

So from what you have right now it looks like
2 pts warrior
1 1/2 pt hearthguard on foot you need 2 more for another point
1 1/2 pt hearthguard on horse same here
you need 2 more crossbows to make a warrior group
you need 6 more bows for the levy

hope this helps!

[dm]

Thank you and will add more troops over the next few weeks

My painting at present is very slow due to an injury that plays up when i sit in one place for too long and havnt felt like painting for months but now feeling in the mood again and want to get this force finished. The miniatures are a mix of Perry and Crusader miniatures with some old Foundry figures added to the Perry Pilgrims for the Civillian/Pilgrim types and they may end up as a seperate levey if i can get away with it.

[Too Bo Coo]

My pleasure to help

Looking forward to seeing what you get done.  I just bought a Viking Age Norman force.  I have a double duty Viking/Anglo-Danish force (I share the warriors and levy between them right now as I paint other things).  But I always liked the Norman force and it'll be fin to play something aggressive and on horseback.

[Ray Earle]

Would love to see these dm. 

[dm]

Hi Ray, may have to post them on FB when they are based and fully finshed

[dm]

Just gone through the unpainted lead box and should be able to muster another 3pt of Hearthguard and 1pt of Warriors and 1pt of levey eventually without buying any more lead and the project could end up bigger than i first thought.

 Now wondering about balance of force in historical terms with various troop types.

[Too Bo Coo]

Almost forgot, most games are 6 points   You can also form your forces as you want.  So if you buy 1 point of warriors, you can break them up into two groups of 4.  Also, if you buy 2 points of hearthguard, you can make an 8 man group.  Max size is 12, min is 4.  You get 1 saga die for every group of hearthguard and warriors and 2 dice for your warlord.  None for your levy.... 

[dm]

Thank you for the information

Now trying to work out what to do with miniatures i have already and the various combinations i can make from them. Could be a long night

After i finish this force i will start on my Dark Age/Medieval Irish

[Hu Rhu]

You may want to get a copy of the Cross & Crescent rules before you go much further in your project.  There are some nuances about force types, weapons, characteristics etc that might influence your force composition and your painting schedules.  That said your force seems well reasonably well balanced for a SAGA game.  The good news about creating a norman force is that they can do double duty as a 1st crusade force in Cross & Crescent and a Norman force in other SAGA games.

By the way why don't you post pictures of your force here once they are painted. I'm sure we'd all like to see them.

[Ray Earle]

dm you have a pm.   

Sounds like you have a good basis for a force sorted out.

[dm]

Thank you Ray Once the force is finished will try and get some photos sorted.

After this force is finally done the Dark Age Irish force will be on the cards 

[Too Bo Coo]

The GB Irish are quite nice, and I think you can use quite a few plastic sets as well. 

Today my Normans came in the mail! I went with the Foundry William the Conquer set, crossbowmen, armored and unarmored archers and the plastic Conquest Norman knights.  Like HuRhu pointed out, they can double duty for an early crusades force

I must say from a quality pov, Foundry makes a top product!  But note, there are in fact 2 Norman lines at Foundry.  The 'Old' Normans are in the Dark Ages section and are a bit mediocre, but the much nicer 'New' Normans can be found in the ancients section! 

I'll start my own thread once I get to these, but Normans looks to be a solid choice all the way around!

[dm]

Have not seen any of those new Normans in the hand but saw them on the website and did consider getting some when they were first released. Looking forward to seeing the photos once your force is complete

My force are mostly Perry 1st Crusade but added some Crusader foot Normans to bulk it out. I had originally intended to build skirmish forces for Stephen and Matilda's bash and was going to use them with the Warhammer Shieldwall set of rules with a few adaptions but also liked the idea of an early crusader force and will add figures as and when i have the funds and motivation to paint.

Managed to get 10 more mianiatues on the painting table today

[Too Bo Coo]

You cant go wrong with Perry minis....