Introduction
So, this is Part 2 of our games club's SAGA Escalation League. A group of us from HAHA (Helensburgh Alternative Hobby Association) are collecting new SAGA armies to a monthly timetable. February's challenge was to expand the warlord and 1 point that we had produced in January by bringing a second point of troops. Heady stuff!
6 of us met on the club's regular Thursday evening. This was somewhat awkward, since I had planned (without thinking about it very hard) that in session 2 we would fight 2 vs 2 battles. Of course, that only works if you have 4 or 8 players, or indeed any other multiple of four.
Instead, we decided to play 3 vs 3, with each side having 3 warlords and their respective 2-point entourages. This makes for a fairly quick battle, so we managed to fit in 2 such games over the course of the evening.
6 of us met on the club's regular Thursday evening. This was somewhat awkward, since I had planned (without thinking about it very hard) that in session 2 we would fight 2 vs 2 battles. Of course, that only works if you have 4 or 8 players, or indeed any other multiple of four.
Instead, we decided to play 3 vs 3, with each side having 3 warlords and their respective 2-point entourages. This makes for a fairly quick battle, so we managed to fit in 2 such games over the course of the evening.
Game 1
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| In the first game, both sides looked fairly evenly distributed across their base lines. |
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| However, the Crusaders made a beeline for the Saxons... |
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| ...whilst the Jomsvikings and Skraelings defended the rest of the table against an aggressive, but somewhat disjointed attack from the combined Norman and Byzantine horsemen. |
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| The isolated Saxons and Crusaders fought each other to an exhausted stalemate. Much blood was spilt, but neither of these warlords could finish off his opponent before the end of the game. |
Result: a significant (but not crushing) victory for the combined Jomsvikings, Skraelings and Saxons.
Game 2
We randomised the sides again and reset for another game.
Result: a narrow victory for the Normans, Saxons and Crusaders.
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| This time, the Byzantines and the Saxons left their erstwhile allies and traded places. Both sides tried to implement some form of strategy - but with too many commanders around, such ideas were short lived! |
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| Instead, the Normans and the Jomsvikings knocked lumps out of each other whilst the Saxons hovered about in the centre, looking menacing but not doing much else. The Normans had the better of it; their archers shot down the Jomsviking leader in exchange for a few peasants, whilst both sides lost some hearthguard. |
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| Elsewhere, the Crusaders charged forwards at breakneck speed. Initially this took the allies by surprise, but over time the Byzantines and the Skraelings surrounded their attackers and ground them down. Eventually, only the Crusader leader was left, surrounded by a ring of his enemies. He was slain by the Skraeling warlord in the last turn, though not before he had done a lot of damage (question: just how do you scalp someone who is wearing chainmail and a helmet?!) |
Result: a narrow victory for the Normans, Saxons and Crusaders.
Conclusion
The sharp-eyed reader will have noticed that the Saxons were on the winning side in both games and therefore score 3 league points. Equally, the Byzantines were on the losing side twice and only score 1 league point. Everyone else who was present comes in second place with one win and one loss: 2 league points.
Standings are therefore as follows:
| January Starter for ten |
February Powers of two |
March Long live the peasants! |
April Bonus round |
May Armageddon |
TOTAL | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Byzantines | 1 | 1 | 2 | |||
| Anglo Saxons | 3 | 3 | 6 | |||
| Normans | 1 | 2 | 3 | |||
| Jomsvikings | 1 | 2 | 3 | |||
| Anglo Danes | 3 | (absent) | 3 | |||
| Skraelings | 1 | 2 | 3 | |||
| Crusaders | 2 | 2 | 4 |
For March's challenge, each warband must add a 3rd point to its strength - but these must not be hearthguard. An additional 8 warriors or 12 levy will almost double the size of many of these warbands!
