SAGA: Aetius & Arthur – new rules for the Late Roman period

[WillieB]

Report please Willie, once you have your copy! (After you have had a tremendous day at your show, obviously )

Well first impression is certainly favourable. Nicely produced 85 page hardback in a subtle purplish brown with a flaming Chi- ro on it. It is of course a supplement to the original Saga or preferably the revised edition in the Crescent and The Cross.

Beautifully illustrated with colour drawings and very nice pictures of 28mm figures. Mostly Footsore (ex- Musketeer) but I also spotted some Foundry, Gripping Beast and others.
There are six new battleboards included. Huns, Goths and Saxons all using the same dice, Picts and Romans and Britons. The latter two use the new purple dice.  But it doesn't end with 'just' these 6 factions. In the chapter Today's Friends are Tomorrow's Enemies it is explained how you can easily introduce the Salian Franks, Eastern Romans, Scotti (including the mysterious Attecotti) or the Welsh Art Clut/Goddoddin armies by simply altering a few things on already existing battleboards. Mercenaries of widely differing plumage are also included.

Now, while some of the faction seem to have some very interesting abilities that I'd love to try out, the real prize for me is the inclusion of several campaign options. I love SAGA but sometimes felt that there could be more to it than just a relatively quick standalone game. Well, now we have it.
Highly recommended!

Now where did I put all those Huns?

[rokurota]

85 pages, includes the basic rules?

[WillieB]

85 pages, includes the basic rules?

No, the basic rules are not included. You still need a copy of SAGA or preferably C&C;

[rokurota]

No, the basic rules are not included. You still need a copy of SAGA or preferably C&C;

Thank you.

[Captain Blood]

Thanks for the report Willie. I hope I can pick a copy up at 'Warfare' in a couple of weeks time.

[armchairgeneral]

Wondering when these SAGA AoA rules will be available? They were supposed to be out end of November yet I haven't even seen them on pre-order yet.

[delbruck]

Wargames Illustrated flip through

[Captain Blood]

I heard there were a few small translation issues and details that needed ironing out on the back of the initial test print run (which were sold at Crisis). Presumably those tweaks are being made before the package goes into full production. Suspect it will be a while...

[armchairgeneral]

I heard there were a few small translation issues and details that needed ironing out on the back of the initial test print run (which were sold at Crisis). Presumably those tweaks are being made before the package goes into full production. Suspect it will be a while...

Thanks Captain. It was going to be a Christmas present to myself but doesn't sound like it will be available until the New Year  I shall have to think of something else which won't be hard  Tempted to get some Arthurian figures but just not sure which faction I will opt for.

[Coenus Scaldingus]

Having gotten the book at Crisis (although still not actually read the entire thing!), I can confirm there certainly are a some typos and textual mistakes, although that's hardly new in SAGA. That said, I haven't seen anything so far that was unclear because of those mistakes; they merely make the book a bit less pretty than it could have been. Not sure if I had gotten the book already if a better version would indeed be released some time after, but ah well, at least I have it.

If you want to know any army specifics which may influence your choice armchairgeneral, feel free to ask away. That said, I bought a box of plastic late Romans alongside the book, and still haven't even decided whether to mainly use them as Romans or Britons...

[Bishop Cockthrottle]

Having gotten the book at Crisis (although still not actually read the entire thing!), I can confirm there certainly are a some typos and textual mistakes, although that's hardly new in SAGA. That said, I haven't seen anything so far that was unclear because of those mistakes; they merely make the book a bit less pretty than it could have been. Not sure if I had gotten the book already if a better version would indeed be released some time after, but ah well, at least I have it.

If you want to know any army specifics which may influence your choice armchairgeneral, feel free to ask away. That said, I bought a box of plastic late Romans alongside the book, and still haven't even decided whether to mainly use them as Romans or Britons...

The Huns! Tell me about the Huns!!!!

[WillieB]

The Huns! Tell me about the Huns!!!!

The Huns will be deadly adversaries!
Normal battle board with an activation pool ( 2 extra SAGA dice ) and an attack pool.( 1 or 2 extra attack dice)

As expected archery will be very important to them but perhaps surprisingly so is fatigue. With 'Panic' for example you can interrupt an enemy activation give 2 enemy units 2 extra fatigue or have them move only without any melee or shooting ability.
Or give an extra fatigue to ALL enemy units between two Hun Nobles no further than 'L' from each other with 'Encircle'

But IMHO 'Weak Point' will be the killer. Each time a Hunnish unit shoots or attacks it gets as many extra attack points as the enemy unit has fatigue points.

[Coenus Scaldingus]

Indeed, the Huns are pretty much all about fighting when the enemy is tired and afraid. All but two of their abilities (I think) either have effects dependent on the enemy's Fatigue or add extra Fatigue. It will be interesting to see them played (or indeed play with them); depending on the enemy band you may have to focus on an enemy unit by giving them Fatigue and then hitting them with all your additional advantages, or see who's left weakened, then hit that part of the line. Unsurprisingly, the Huns are a a very fast army, with Warlord, Hearthguard and Warrior archers all on horseback. Levy are interesting too, either with bows, melee weapons or as some of the most miserable cavalry you will ever see, although representing allied (well, subjugated) vassals they are unable to use most of the board.

[armchairgeneral]

If you want to know any army specifics which may influence your choice armchairgeneral, feel free to ask away. That said, I bought a box of plastic late Romans alongside the book, and still haven't even decided whether to mainly use them as Romans or Britons...

Thanks very much for the offer. To be honest I am interested in most of the factions but particularly the Romans, Britons and Saxons. Always felt the Arthurian period was best suited to Saga. Guess I will have to wait until the New Year. I understand the translation issue will delay things for a while so you are fortunate to get hold of an advanced copy.

[Coenus Scaldingus]

The Saxons reminded me rather a lot of the Vikings. The warband doesn't have anything special (long-range missiles on Levy, regular melee infantry otherwise) and the board is relatively straightforward, albeit with some interesting options. For starters, they do not in fact have a normal combat pool, instead able to shed Fatigue in return for more attack dice for the enemy. Several other abilities have the reverse, giving Fatigue or automatic hits in return for hits taken. Overall, they like to charge forwards and hit stuff, choosing particular combats but with units working independent of each other or a greater strategy.

The Britons are, as they are thematically, the opposite. Warlord can be mounted, and if so, so can his elites; Levy with javelins or bows/slings. To represent how only the inspiring leaders rallied the remnants of Roman Britain, many of their abilities only work, or work better, if the units using them are near your warlord. That is, very near him.. or up to two companions he brings along, which function not unlike Harold Godwinson and his brothers. The Britons are a very defensive lot, able to use pretty much all the protective modifiers you can imagine: force attack re-rolls, ignore hits, gain defence dice, save hits on a lower value. All but one ability concerns the Warlord in some way or another, so positioning will be important, possibly guarding the flanks with mercenaries that can make no use of the abilities anyway.

Romans, finally, can also have mounted leaders and guards; furthermore their warriors may have bows while the levy could be melee oriented. Additionally, some levy can be traded in for a ballista, providing long-range armour piercing shots, although mostly reliable when shooting into a crowd. The board is largely dependent on their 'Impetus' value, so there will be some resource management. No choices (as Jomsvikings) or dependence on dice results, just some abilities that increase, and others that lower the value. Definitely one of the most strategic factions, as it's important to choose the order of activations to get the most out of your Impetus before it eventually recedes: you start with the full value, but most abilities drastically reduce it, while getting it back up is costly. Was leaning towards the Britons myself, but may yet go for Romans just for the challenge: they look strong and versatile if played well, but doing so won't be easy!