SAGA v2: First Game

Introduction

I've played a few games of SAGA before (most recently, here), but this time it's different.  At least, it's slightly different, as we recently played our first game of SAGA Version 2.

There are a number of differences between v.1 and v.2, though overall the game is much the same.  Others have reviewed these changes in depth, but here are some of the more obvious alterations:

• The way that the number of SAGA dice is calculated is more even: all units & heroes generate 1 die each (though levy and warrior units have a minimum size below which they don't count any more, so there's no point in hiding that 1-man warrior unit just for its dice-generating potential any more).
• Warlords/heroes are beefed up in combat, but cannot join with another friendly unit in a fight.  All combat is therefore one unit against one unit.
• Melee is one entire unit against another.  No more measuring to try to figure out which figures are involved and which are not.
• Movement is in a straight line; no fiddling around to measure weird curves.
• All the battle boards have been reworked and at least some of the abilities are quite different.

Overall, I think these changes make everything simpler and more consistent, but we have only just scratched the surface in terms of gameplay...

Our Game

So, nothing terribly subtle here.  We lined up 6 points of Vikings vs 6 points of Anglo Danes and threw a couple of terrain pieces on the table, then set to.

My Anglo Danes had fewer men overall than the Vikings, but more of them were armoured.  With that in mind, my central hearthguard charged forwards, whilst my warriors tried to avoid the Viking berserkers who were running a long way around a flank.

The initial clash between these well-trained & motivated fighters and their Viking equivalents was...bloody.

Elsewhere, a group of Viking warriors struggled against some unusually feisty Anglo Dane levy, who first dropped several of the Vikings with sling shots and then saw off the warriors' charge with minimal loss.

The remaining Anglo Dane hearthguards fought a war of attrition with a slightly larger group of Viking warriors.  Over a series of clashes, each side would win their charge and cause a small number of casualties, only to be driven back in turn when the other side counter-attacked.  Neither group was prepared to admit defeat and eventually they pretty much wiped each other out.

So, after a few turns, the situation was thus:

• The Viking berserkers still hadn't caught up with any enemies, though they were getting closer.
• In the centre, units from both sides were queuing up to fight each other.
• Both warlords were hovering just behind their front lines, looking for an opportunity to make a difference.
• There were lots of Vikings behind the wood on the left, but these hadn't made it into the fight yet.

Seeing a remnant of the axe-wielding Anglo Dane hearthguards retreating, the Viking warlord charged through the middle of the battle and cut them down.  This was brave, but left him tired and horribly exposed!

Vengeful Anglo Dane warriors from their second line swarmed all around the solitary Viking hero.  He fought to the last, taking 5 of the attackers with him, but the odds were just too great and the Viking leader fell to a well-aimed spear thrust.

Finally, the Viking berserkers arrived.  They charged into the Anglo Dane slingers and slaughtered them, leaving just one shocked man from the levy.  This wasn't without loss though: 2 berserkers fell as well.

In yet another tit-for-tat move, the reserve Anglo Dane warriors now attacked the depleted group of berserkers.

Knowing how dangerous these frothing loonies could be, the Anglo Dane warriors were boosted by a couple of battle board abilities: Like Rocks and Crush the Weak.  Despite this, they still lost two of their own number before they killed the remaining Vikings.

So, one more fight before the end of the game?  Anglo Dane warriors declared a charge on a slightly smaller group of Vikings.

Despite one of the Vikings declaring "Valhalla!", the defenders were wiped out.  The few remaining victorious Anglo Danes were promptly shot down by the nearby Viking archers.

Having finished off the berserkers, the last group of Anglo Dane warriors then assaulted the Viking archers.  The archers had the worst of it, though the slaughter was high on both sides.

The End

At this point, the turn limit for the game was reached.  As you can see, there weren't many survivors!

We counted up the "slaughter points" for casualties caused and it turned out that each side had exactly the same number!  But wait - bonus slaughter points are also awarded for entire units destroyed:

• The Anglo Danes had lost a large number of men, but surprisingly only 2 units were completely eliminated (one of hearthguard and one of warriors).  The other hearthguard, the other warrior and the levy unit all still had at least one figure left (and just one figure in most cases!)
• The Vikings had lost completely 2 units of hearthguard (including the berserkers) and 2 units of warriors (plus their warlord, though I'm not sure if he counts for these purposes).

Thus I declare that it was a (very) narrow win for the Anglo Danes, who have managed to drive off the seaborne invaders and defend their lands from pillage and ruin!

Conclusion

This game took just short of 2 hours, which wasn't too bad considering that we were learning and still referring to the rulebook on a number of occasions.  We had enough time to reset and play a second game; this went much more quickly (and led to a climactic battle between the two opposing leaders, where the Viking was ultimately cut down by the heavily boosted Anglo Dane hero ("Lord of War" is a very powerful ability for this type of duel 😃).

So, what did we think of the rules?

• Once we were familiar enough with the basic concepts, we fairly rattled through the turns.
• Sometimes a great plan was stymied by not throwing the right faces on the SAGA dice.  Of course, more forethought might have meant that a "plan B" could be followed instead...
• Similarly, melee (especially, but shooting as well, to a lesser extent) would produce unexpected results.  The dice could be especially kind or unkind at times, though this isn't really different from many other games.
• Warlords can be very vulnerable if they become isolated from their bodyguards!  Remember to use their free activation every turn either to move them to a place of safety or to engage the biggest threat.
• There were certainly some occasions where we forgot about free activations of all sorts (the warlord's personal activation, his "we obey" ability, the free manoeuvre for units more then 'L' from an enemy...).  This can be frustrating when you realise part-way through your opponent's next turn that you didn't make all the moves you had planned!
• Overall, I think we enjoyed both tester games a great deal.  We'll certainly play again, though I'll probably try to vary the scenarios a bit, rather than just using the single "pitched battle" setup that comes in the SAGA v.2 rules.

SAGA: The Red River

Introduction

Last Thursday, my son A. and I went along to the Helensburgh games club (HAHA) again.  I had arranged to play an introductory game of SAGA with another club member.  In the event, my son played the game and I acted as umpire, dispensing advice and rules knowledge with complete impartiality.

We were still playing SAGA version 1, though this may well be the last such game before I upgrade to v.2 .  I set up "The River" scenario from the original rule book: this has an impassable stream with 2 crossing places.  The winner is whoever has more of his force on the opposite side after 7 turns.  Simple enough!

The Vikings

A. took control of a Viking warband, comprised of the following:

• 1 x Warlord ("Leif")
• 1 x 4 berserkers
• 2 x 4 hearthguard ("hirdmen")
• 2 x 8 warriors
• 1 x 12 archers (levy)

The Scots

Sorry for the out-of-focus shot.  I'm not sure what happened here...

Facing the Vikings was a similarly-sized formation of Scots:

• 1 x Warlord ("Macbheatha")
• 2 x 6 hearthguard ("thanes")
• 2 x 8 warriors
• 1 x 12 angry monks (levy)

Note that we were not playing with any advanced rules for this game, so the Scots banner-waving hearthguard was counted as just a regular hearthguard.  Mind you, A. nominated the banner as a self-proclaimed objective.  I forget his exact words, but the sentiment was very much along the lines of "I'm going to capture that!"

The Game

For the first turn or two, both warlords used pretty much all of their SAGA dice to advance their bands.  At this stage, they were trying to maintain some semblance of order (and didn't want to leave anyone behind!); nothing fancy happened.

Macbheatha stayed in the middle (i.e. between the ford and the bridge) with his angry monks acting as a spiritual reserve (generating an extra SAGA dice by being near to the seat of power!)

Leif encouraged his Vikings to cross the bridge, though he was conspicuously not in the front rank.

First contact occurred soon enough, of course.  Scots thanes had barely set foot in the ford when a bunch of yelling, semi-naked madmen ran at them from the Viking lines.

The berserkers stumbled, though.  Even though they threw a significantly larger number of dice than the defenders, they couldn't penetrate the Scots's armour and only 2 of the thanes fell.  In return, all 4 of the frothing loonies were cut down.  Someone's been eating their haggis this morning!

Losses were mounting as the Scots thanes charged across the river and all but obliterated the Viking warriors who were facing them (a single soul survived).  Then, the Scots thanes were eliminated in turn by some fresh Viking hirdmen just before the Scots spearmen could cross the river to join them.

At the bridge, an initial Viking rush was met by a wall of Scots warriors and repulsed.  The Scots thanes (with banner) then counter-attacked the retreating raiders and slew them.

Another wave of Viking warriors charged forwards, but again the Scots thanes held their ground and sent the attackers reeling with heavy losses.  Mind you, the Scots were not without loss themselves.

Continuing to advance, the Scots thanes finished off the last warriors in front of them.  They were tiring now, but only warlord Leif himself stood in their way (the levy archers don't really count; they were not very useful all through the game).

Leif cut down one thane, then a second and finally a third!  However, the fourth and final thane was just too much for him; the Viking warlord fell and there was nothing left to prevent the Scots from following their banner and streaming over the bridge (again, the levies don't really count as they had all the stopping power of wet tissue paper).

Back at the ford, the Viking hirdmen were forging forwards.  They entered the river and pushed back the Scots spearmen, but it was too little, too late.  Macbheatha shoved past his crowd of holy men and ran towards the norsemen.  Even though both sides were fatigued, the Scots lord had no difficulty in cutting down the two remaining hirdmen.

That left just a solitary Viking warrior (plus their levy archers) on the west bank of the stream.

With a cry of "Valhalla!", this likely lad charged Macbheatha.  There was no realistic chance that he could injure the experienced and armoured warlord, but the audacity of his attack must have caught the Scot unawares.  The Viking's spear thrust bounced off the Scot's shield without any attempt at a return stroke.  Honour satisfied, Sigvald ran off into the dusk.

Conclusion

Although technically we had 2 more turns to play, we decided to halt the game at this point.  It should be fairly obvious to anyone who has followed the story that the Scots had won a significant, if bloody, victory; there was nothing to stop them from advancing the remnants of at least 2 units over each of the ford and the bridge.  The lone Viking warrior would have been cut down easily by a counterattack and although the levy  archers might possibly have inflicted a casualty or two in melee, they didn't generate any SAGA dice and so they they would have been easy prey, unable to activate to move, shoot or rest.

It is true that the Vikings had some poor luck in the first two turns of the game (they didn't roll even one 'rare' face on any SAGA die and their combat rolls were less than stellar).  Neither side made a lot of use of their battle-board's SAGA abilities, which isn't really surprising considering that both players were relative or complete beginners.  Still, as far as I can tell, both players enjoyed the game - and that's the main thing.

As you can see from the casualty markers, the river ran red that day!

SAGA: There's no place like Home

Introduction

A couple of weekends ago, my friend Steve came over for a day's gaming.  I've already described our Black Powder game (the Battle of Grochow, 1809), but that was only a part of the day's activities.  For afters, we played a game of SAGA.  I took my Scots, whilst Steve opted for a Viking warband.

Homeland

Since I now have some Dark Age buildings (suitable for northern Scotland, at least), we chose the Homeland scenario.  In this game, one side attacks a settlement that is defended by the other.  That sounds simple enough, but there's a twist: each player bids for the "privilege" of defending.

Here's how it works: the attacker will use a full 6-point warband.  Both players secretly write down the size of the smallest force which they think can hold the buildings until the end of the game (6 turns, from memory).  Whoever bids lowest becomes the defender!

In the event, I decided that I would need 4 points of troops to defend, but Steve reckoned he could do it with 3 points worth.  So, Steve's Vikings became the defenders, but would have half the force that the attacking Scots would use.  I wasn't exactly gloating, but at this point I thought that I would be able to roll right over them and win the game easily.  Oh, yeah!

The Game

OK, here's the plan:

• My thanes (4 mounted and 8 on foot) will advance up the centre and attack as soon as they're able.
• 2 groups of warriors (10 and 6 strong) will work round the flanks and provide backup in case the nobles cannot defeat the Vikings all on their own.  They're marching round the flanks mainly because I don't want to cause a traffic jam in the centre, not because I'm being tactically sophisticated!
• My warlord and 12 chanting monks will stay in the centre and offer moral support.  This is partly because they generate a fair number of SAGA dice and partly because if I lose my warlord in this scenario then I lose the game instantly  Although I'd love to have him fighting in the front rank, I'm not sure that I dare, at least until the defenders are considerably weakened....

Facing me, the Vikings have decided to abandon one building entirely, place 4 hearthguard in each of the other two (and their warlord in the further one), whilst keeping a reserve of 8 bondi (warriors) behind the village.

So, for the first 2 turns, the Scots rode, walked and (in some cases) jogged forward.  Not much else happened, except that the Vikings prepared to die honourably, with as many defensive SAGA abilities as possible.  I admit that I was a bit amused by Steve's discomfort on discovering that Vikings don't really have many defensive abilities available, no matter how many SAGA dice they roll!

In turn 3, it was my turn to be frustrated.  Carelessly, I put the SAGA dice that I had intended to use to activate the Thanes into the boxes on the chart which activate levies.  This was not at all what I had intended, but I'm too honest a player to back out from such an error and so the result stood.

The monks really sprinted ahead, whilst all the Scots thanes stood and watched.  Maybe it was the thought of climbing a wall into an enclosure filled with cattle, or perhaps it was the rather fierce-looking chickens pecking about in the centre of the settlement (my cavalry once had a very bad experience with some chickens), but the Scots nobility didn't move on turn 3.

At this point, I suddenly realised that the game was half-way over and none of my warband had even made contact with the Vikings yet.  Hmm, perhaps this wasn't going to be so easy after all.

The next turn, the Scots thanes attacked the first house.  Firstly the cavalry charged, then (once the defenders were fatigued) the large unit on foot assaulted the building.  Now, here's the thing: the Vikings don't really have any defensive measures on their battleboard.  But equally, the Scots don't have any offensive abilities.  This fight was resolved pretty much without any power-ups from SAGA dice.

So, the Viking hearthguard crouched behind their shields and the thick walls of the building and sacrificed as many attack dice as they were permitted in order to boost their defence.  Although the Scots then took no casualties, the Vikings were very hard to hurt; only 2 of the 4 defenders fell to this all-out assault.

To start the attack on the big house at the back, my flanking warriors moved forward.  They were countered by the reserve Viking bondi who, although they lost the fight, still inflicted some casualties and fatigue on the Scots.  The clock was running out, but I still hadn't managed to get near to the Viking chieftain and his retinue!

In the last 2 turns of the game, the Scots thanes pushed through the cattle and cut down the last 2 defenders of the rightmost hut.  However, to win they needed to clear all the buildings and the Viking warlord and his bodyguard still held the central building.

Wave after wave of Scots attacked the last dwelling, but the Vikings just hunkered down and blocked the entrances with shields and the bodies of the fallen.  One Viking huscarl fell to an unlucky spear thrust from the mounted Scots nobles, but the cavalry lost one of their own in return.

The Scots warriors at the rear were met by the Viking chieftain himself; they didn't even manage to wound him.  Even the monks joined in, frantically tearing at the barricades in their haste to reach the heathen.  But their faith didn't protect them and they died just the same.

And so the game ended, with the battered Vikings still holding out...

Conclusion

This scenario didn't play to either side's strengths, really.  The Scots' battle board doesn't have much in the way of offensive options; it's more about defence and counter-attack.  Equally, the Vikings don't have many defensive boosts.  Having said that, my attackers couldn't really have afforded to use many SAGA dice for power-ups anyway; they were all needed just to move the troops across the board.  Don't underestimate the effort this takes in a time-limited game and when the enemy doesn't plan on coming to you!

My initial belief in a walkover for the attackers was steadily sapped throughout the game as it became obvious how little progress I was making.  Perhaps if I hadn't messed up my activations on turn 3 then the game would have been closer, but this seems to be clutching at straws really.  I was thoroughly defeated by a stout defence and lack of time.

I'm already pondering alternate tactics that might have been employed:

• For the attackers, perhaps one or two large, fast-moving elite units could have been used as the assault force whilst multiple small units of less expensive troops cheer them on without stepping from the baseline (i.e. spectators, just to generate the necessary SAGA dice!)
• The defenders might experiment with small, throwaway units to advance and act as speed & fatigue "bumps".  By delaying and tiring out the attackers, they might disorganise the attack and buy enough time for the game clock to run out.

More 28mm Shieldmaidens

Introduction

It's been just over 2 weeks since my last post, I think.  I haven't been away, or ill, or had computer troubles.  In truth, I just haven't felt like posting anything.  This came as a complete surprise to me, as in the past I've tried to post faithfully, twice a week - and have mostly managed that goal for the last 3 years or so.  Indeed, it's quite an effort even to motivate myself to write this much!  I'm not at all sure what's going on, but I'm really hoping that it'll pass soon and that I can get back into a more regular flow.

Bad Squiddo Games

The strange thing about my sudden malaise is that I did have plans for an article (i.e. this one)!  Just over 2 weeks I ordered some miniatures from a new company: the curiously-named Bad Squiddo Games.  For those who haven't come across Bad Squiddo yet, it's an offshoot of The Dice Bag Lady's enterprise.

As I understand it, Annie (who is the Dice Bag Lady) started by selling bags and pouches suitable for dice.  More recently, she's set up an online store to sell "believable female miniatures" - so no inappropriate clothing or unlikely anatomy here!  Most of her stock of female figures has been picked carefully from the existing ranges of well-known manufacturers, but there are a few models which are sold only by her, under the "Bad Squiddo" label.  At least, I think that's the way it works.

Shield Maidens

As soon as I saw the first Bad Squiddo miniatures, I decided that I wanted some!  At the time, there were 3 armed, Dark Age women in the range, though since then a 4th had been added.  Also I think you can now buy a female orc, though I'm not really interested in this figure myself.

 I ordered the 3 models on (I think) a Friday and very promptly received an e-mail from Annie apologising that she would be busy over the weekend and couldn't post the figures until Monday.  Well, that was just fine, since I wasn't in any great hurry - and it's nice to be kept informed.

In my mind's eye, these are probably women who have picked up whatever they could find to help defend their homes from raiders.  It's possible that they have joined a raid themselves, though - either planning this from the outset or maybe being more adventurous camp followers who have chosen to join in on the spur of the moment!

Solveig clearly comes from the richest family of the three women.  She's wearing chainmail and has the most brightly-coloured and decorated (& therefore most expensive) clothing.  Perhaps the other 2 women are poorer relations or neighbours?  Or even her old nurse and a maid?

The Timetable

I've often said to friends that the best way to make progress in the hobby (or indeed in most hobbies) is to use as many small slots of time as possible.  There are often periods during the day when I'm waiting for something and these periods can be usefully employed in reading, model-making or other such activities.  This might include 10 or 15 minutes after breakfast and before leaving for work, or a similar period after dinner whilst the kids are doing the washing up (well, I can dream about that latter, can't I?).  Indeed, I often find many such "gaps" during a typical day and while they can't all be used productively, some usually can.

I decided before I had even received the models that I would keep a record of when I made progress on the 3 shield maidens.  So here is the record of how it happened; I hope this is at least somewhat useful or interesting to someone:

Tuesday

• Afternoon: package delivered
• Evening: prepare & glue the figures, stick to 25mm washers and apply filler to level off the bases

Wednesday

• Morning: trim the filler, glue sand to the bases
• Afternoon: spray with primer/undercoat
• Evening: paint flesh, boots, back of shields
• Late evening: paint metalwork (chainmail, swords, helmet, shield bosses...)

Thursday

• Morning: brown undercoat on the bases
• Evening: all taken up playing Dice Masters with my sons...
• Late evening: highlights on base, undercoat front of shields

Friday

• Morning: basecoat clothing
• Evening: highlights of clothing

Saturday

• Morning (a longer session; perhaps 1 hour): decorations on clothing, gauntlets, eyes, belts, shield transfers, hair base colour, names on base rims
• Evening: hair highlights, static grass.

Sunday

• Morning: varnish.  Done!

Conclusion

This has to come in 2 parts, I think.

1. The Miniatures

Firstly, the models themselves.  They're resin casts - I'm always slightly suspicious of resin, but that's probably just because I'm so used to metal figures.  I needn't have had any worries, though, as the casting and fit of these miniatures was very good.  Not quite top marks: there was a little flash (easily trimmed) and a few really tiny air bubbles, though nothing that you'd notice once the model was painted.  For what it's worth, I didn't add any filler or other remedial work to my figures.

Each miniature came in 3 parts: the weapon (and the hand holding it), the body and the shield.  These all fitted together very well, though I did pin the weapon hands to the arms.  I think this is probably over-cautious on my part, mind.

The sculpting of all 3 models is good, I think.  Gudrun (on the left, with the axe) has a rather long face, but not outside the normal range of possible humans.  Solveig (in the middle) is definitely my favourite; she looks like a noble's daughter or wife.  There's something about the face of Arndis (on the right, with the helmet) that's a little awkward, though.  I can't quite figure out if it's a technical casting issue, especially around the nose and eyes, or if the sculptor just didn't get it quite right.  Anyway this is really nit-picking: I'm very happy with all 3 models.

2. Believable Female Miniatures

Hallelujah!  At last someone has stood up to be counted, to push back against the worst excesses of misogyny in the hobby.  Now don't get me wrong: I'm a man and I do like women's bodies.  But there is a time and a place for everything.  There are very few places in gaming where gratuitous nakedness (partial or otherwise) is appropriate and none at all for the excessively "well-endowed" (and highly unrealistic) female form.  Yes, Raging Heroes: I'm looking at you (and others)!

Will this make any difference to the seemingly endless stream of miniatures of fantasy women (and I don't mean swords and sorcery in this context)?  Probably not.  But I've cast my vote, for what it's worth...

Of course, my Hordes of the Things "Barbarian" army will still be an equal opportunity zone, where both sexes are expected to dress in just their leather underwear, wield impossibly large weapons and have exaggerated, err, muscles!

SAGA: Ragnar vs the Monks

Introduction

Nearly 2 weeks ago, I mentioned in a post (here) that we had played some games and that I'd report on them in due course.  Well, you've already had the ATZ short story, so now it's time for the SAGA battle!

Clash of Warlords

"My lord, Abbot Killian is here to see you", the servant announced.  Macbheatha had barely registered this before the churchman and several of his attendants strode into the hall.  "Lord Macbheatha!" exclaimed the holy man.  "It won't do at all!  You must show the heathen that he cannot prevail!"

The Scots warlord sighed.  "Err, is your anger directed against some particular pagan, or do you simply disapprove of all such on principle?" he replied.

"Why, it's that Viking, Ragnar Lothbrok!" returned the churchman.  "He has erected a false idol near the bridge over the Clutha burn.  When our holy brothers started to destroy it, they were beaten most severely!  Ragnar must be punished.  You must challenge him and show the pagans that they cannot do such things!"

Wearily, Macbheatha reached for his sword and shield.

We played a 6 point game, using the "Clash of Warlords" scenario.  In this, each warlord can take 12 hits before falling; victory is determined solely on the number of such wounds suffered.  The gaining of territory or the destruction of other models counts for nothing in the end (though obviously it may confer a short term tactical advantage!)

I played the Scots and took a regular warlord, a mixture of hearthguard and warriors on foot, a few mounted hearthguard and a dozen angry monks.

My younger son (A.) played the Vikings.  He chose to take the special character Ragnar Lothbrok, small numbers of berserkers and hearthguard, a fair number of warriors and some levy archers.  Hmm, I thought: one of Ragnar's special abilities is that he can ignore the first 2 hits in each melee rather than a regular warlord's 1 hit.  This would make him a very tough customer in a game where such wounds determined the winner.

Early Moves

For the first couple of turns, forces on both sides moved forwards whilst the 2 warlords beat up on each other.  The Viking's attacks were ferocious, but the Scots lord's defence was sufficient to deflect them all.

The general fighting was opened by the Scots hearthguard.  Seeing that some Viking berserkers were in the lead and getting perilously close to Macbheatha, the thanes double-timed over the bridge and charged at the semi-naked axemen.

Some cunning use of SAGA abilities including the powerful A Barrier of Spears and some lucky dice rolling enabled the thanes to wipe out all of the scary berserkers for no loss whatsoever.  As the Scots' commander, this was excellent news and a brilliant start to the game!

...or so I thought.  A large group of Viking warriors charged down off the hill, shouting "Valhalla!" and banging their shields.  It seems that the berserkers are not the only models in the Viking army who can make violently aggressive attacks - and the Scots had burnt through all of their SAGA abilities for the turn already.  Bother!

By the time the fighting subsided, just 2 of the thanes were left standing, surrounded by piles of dead and injured from both sides.

To finish the job, a small unit of Viking hearthguards then charged the tired pair of thanes.  Predictably, the Scots fell, though they did manage to take one enemy with them.

The remaining hearthguard of both sides now tried to intervene and break the deadlock between the 2 tiring warlords.  Almost predictably, all they achieved was mutual near-annihilation as the Scots were reduced to 1 horseman and the Vikings to a single bodyguard.  However, more Scots were pouring across the bridge and even the monks were getting close to the central duel.

At this moment, Nick (my brother-in-law, who was visiting from New Zealand and watching the game) told A. that his Viking levy archers were completely useless.  Just to prove him wrong, my son used them to shoot down the first rank of Scots warriors to cross the bridge.

In the ever-escalating tit-for-tat, the depleted Scots warriors crossed the bridge and killed the last Viking hearthguard.  In turn, the last unit of Viking bondi attacked and drove off those Scots.  However, another group of Scots warriors was just on the bridge, so could they do any better?

The fresh Scots warriors charged off the bridge, but took 1 casualty from the Vikings.  However, they scored a respectable 5 hits on the Norsemen in return.  That should do it, right: 5 hits, each needing a 5+ to save?

5 hits, each needing a 5+ to save.  What could go wrong?

Amazingly, all the Vikings made their saves and the Scots attack was repulsed.  Oh, fudge!  At least only 1 Scottish warrior had been lost.

Right, so let's send the Scots warriors back in for another attack.  This time, 3 Vikings fell for no loss.  Hurrah - at last we might be able to send men to help Macbheatha in his seemingly endless and pointless fight with Ragnar!

But it wasn't to be.  Ragnar finally managed to pierce Macbheatha's defences and wound the Scots lord.  That would be hard enough to claw back with a matching injury to Ragnar, but then the Viking archers shot another volley.  The last significant group of Scots warriors was slaughtered!

As if sensing victory, Ragnar now drove Macbheatha back, wounding him twice more in quick succession.  This was beginning to look like the end for the Scots; despite all the effort they had put in!

The few remaining warriors on both sides skirmished with each other, killing a few more fighters.  However, neither side achieved any decisive superiority.  Finally, the last remaining Viking shieldmaiden attacked the monks to try to prevent them from attacking Ragnar.  She fell to their anger, but not before she had created a martyr from one of them.

The distraction caused by this little skirmish allowed Macbheatha finally to score a hit on Ragnar.  Still, going into the last turn of the game, the odds didn't look good that the tired Scot would be able to achieve anything more against this legendary, rock-hard Viking.

Right, time to go for broke!  I put SAGA dice on every ability I could that might generate attack dice (not that many for the Scots battleboard!) and sent the monks in as well.  The 2 warlords disappeared under a pile of kicking, biting and swearing holy men.  No doubt there was the odd dagger used as well.  Injuries were received by both Macbheatha and Ragnar, but who would come off worse?

So here's the final tally: 5 wounds to Ragnar, but only 4 wounds to Macbheatha.  The Scots squeak a narrow victory at the last moment!

Macbheatha picked himself up from the dirt with the help of Abbot Killian and dusted down his tunic.  It was bloody and torn from the long fight; he'd need to get another one to replace it.  Drat; he'd really liked that tunic.

 He stared for a moment at the receding back of the Viking lord as Ragnar ran away, then shouted "Let that be a lesson to you.  And DON'T COME BACK!"