War of the Roses - Saga Age of Chivalry Game

 

Yorkists left and Lancastrians right deployed

Opposite end

Lancastrian longbowmen and commander

Lancastrian longbowmen retreat 

Handgunners take heavy shooting casualties on the right

Last Thursday afternoon Craig came over and we played a War of the Roses Saga game, with the new Saga supplement, Age of Chivalry. I was the Yorkist defenders and Craig the Lancastrian attackers, with six points a side and the usual Clash of Warlords scenario. I don't play Saga that often, my last game was about two years ago with the Age of Alexander supplement but Craig plays a fair bit and knows the rules well. I had a lucky start with a unit of men-at-arms (hearthguard) and was able to use the Remounts and Ravage and Pillage activations on my battle board to nearly wipe out a unit of Lancastrian longbowmen (levies).

The Lancastrians responded with some devastating shooting to reduce my mercenary handgunners (warriors) to half strength. The game from there was tit for tat, my Warlord was eventually killed, but both sides were reduced to two units generating Saga dice and neither side could gain the upper hand. In the end we called it a draw. It was fun to get the War of the Roses troops out and try out the new Saga Age of Chivalry rules. It's a very attractive supplement and with fourteen new battle boards has plenty to offer the Medieval Saga enthusiast.

Lancastrian longbowmen suffer

Lancastrian longbowmen retreat
repeatedly from Yorkist billmen

Lancastrian longbowmen survive another turn

Yorkist longbowmen survive another turn

Early Achaemenid Persians versus Greeks - Age of Alexander Saga Game

 

Greeks and Persians deployed

Greeks

Persians

Persian cavalry attack

On Friday afternoon Craig came over to my place and we played an early Persians versus Greeks, Age of Alexander Saga game. Both sides were six points with the usual Clash of Warlords scenario. The Persian cavalry attacked early in the game but retreated lucky to survive. The Bactrian cavalry then shot at the hearthguard Greek hoplites but ended up retreating below half strength. The Greek line of battle proved to be effective but the Persian infantry survived repeated Greek attacks and with One Volley After Another shooting attacks evened up the contest. In the end it was a 15-15 draw, fun to get the troops out and play our first Age of Alexander Saga game.

Persian cavalry retreat

Bactrian cavalry shoot

Bactrians retreat

Persian infantry survive the Greek attacks

Game ends in a 15-15 draw

Sassanids versus Late Romans Saga Game

 

Late Romans left, Sassanids right

Sassanids advance

Sassanid shooting proves effective

Late Roman hearthguards

Late Roman warlord and warriors

Late Roman cataphracts

Last Saturday afternoon I drove over to Craig's new country estate in Wamboin, for a game of Saga. I haven't played a game for about a year but did pick up the Age of Invasions supplement when it came out last year and was keen to give my Sassanids a run. We played a standard six point game with the usual Clash of the Warlords scenario. 

The game started well for the Sassanids, a handy combination of Volley Fire, Ahriman's Curse and a Shadow in the East on the battle board made for some effective shooting. Further casualties and fatigue mounted with an attack on the Sassanid elephant and mounted warriors. The Sassanid cataphracts attacked on the flanks but a Late Roman counterattack was successful. The final turn of the game saw the Sassanids pull back to avoid further losses. In the end it was a 21-16 result for the Sassanids.

Side view of the Sassanid force

Casualties and fatigue mount

Sassanids cataphracts attack on the flanks

Late Romans counterattack with success

Final turn - Sassanids pull back to avoid further losses

Romans versus Carthaginians - Age of Hannibal Saga Game

 

Romans on the left, Carthaginians on the right

Roman Consul with Hastati

Roman Velites and Leves

Carthaginians advance

Roman Hastati retreat

Last Saturday afternoon Craig came over to my place and we played a Romans versus Carthaginians, Age of Hannibal Saga Game. I haven't played Saga for a couple of years but did pick up the Age of Hannibal book and $$$ dice when they were released last year. Craig has been playing a fair bit of Saga and won the Dark Age Saga comp with his Normans at CoronaCon which was held here in Canberra on Australia Day. Our game was six points a side with six turns. 

I had Numidian cavalry and Balearic slingers and tried to wear the Romans down with shooting. This had limited success. Even when my elephant charged the Velites it didn't inflict as much damage as I hoped. The Romans have some very powerful abilities on their battle board and Craig used these to good effect. Not being too familiar with Carthaginian battle board, my use was fairly limited, mainly activation and resting of units. It was a fairly close game but once the Romans killed the Carthaginian warlord it was all over, with the Romans victorious 20-16 points.

Numidians and Balearic slingers shoot

Spanish Scutarii retreat

Carthaginian elephant is exhausted

Both warlord and elephant are vulnerable

Carthaginian warlord is killed

End of game, Romans win 20-16 points

Goths versus Britons Saga Game

Romano-British (top) and Goths (bottom) deployed 

Goths advance

Goth Hearthguard

Goth Warlord screened by Hearthguard

Brit Hearthguard

Brit Warlord with Companions

Brit Hearthguard on the right flank

Last Wednesday night down at the Vikings Club, Craig and I played a Goths versus Britons Saga game. It was a standard 6 point Clash of Warlords scenario which turned out to be a fairly one sided game. It was my first Saga game with the Goths and the Britons managed to run rings around them. In the end my Warlord was killed but not before the writing was well and truly on the wall! Still it was fun to give the Goths a run and I definitely learnt a bit about using the Goth battle board.

Goth Hearthguard attempt to gain First Blood

Brits show No Pity

Goths withdraw again

Goth casualties mount

Brits close in to finish them off

Goths are further reduced 

Brit Hearthguard circle

Goth Warlord is killed