SAGA Anglo-Danes

I started this project in 2012... I just finished off the final unit of eight warriors, and can now present my 6-point Anglo-Dane SAGA force!

Anglo-Danes

Warlord

Hearthguard (GB Plastic)

Warriors (GB plastics)

More warriors

Latest warriors, finally!

Levy archers (Conquest plastics)

Monks

 These monks are from Gripping Beast, and have many centuries of potential use.

A Game of Thrones

I had my first game of the Game of Thrones boardgame, with five other players. It is a nice little design based on The War of the Five Kings, with armies and fleets plodding about the board. The first player to get seven castles wins, or else whoever has the most at the end of ten rounds. As soon as someone gets close to winning, his (or her!) rivals tear them down. There's some additional friction with unpredictable end of round events, and the intrigue is abstracted by blind bidding to decide turn order, tie-breakers, and other hierarchy. You cannot lose characters, which detracts from GRRM's vision somewhat!

I was House Greyjoy (black), and I can't say things went well. I was hit by a surprise attack from the Lannisters (red) led by Gregor Clegane and Tywin Lannister, their most powerful generals, which took Pyke and left me permanently reeling for the rest of the game and struggling to stay alive.

Game start- Westeros from the northwest

There was a continuous back-and-forth between Houses Martell (sand), Baratheon (yellow), and Tyrell (green), whilst Stark (white) built up their force and inexorably marched south. I threw myself behind House Stark lest they crush me alive, but wasn't surprised when they eventually stabbed me in the back! Curse your sudden and inevitable betrayal!

The overall winner was House Tyrell, with six castles, in a tie-breaker with House Stark. I felt somewhat vindicated that, since the Lannisters had expended so much energy attacking me, they ended up coming second last.

Game end- Greyjoy slinks away on their sole remaining ship!

I enjoyed myself (since the pressure to compete and win was off)! It's a nicely presented game that works well with six players, that captures many (but not all) of the saga of AGoT. Where were my dragons?!

This is as good a time as any to show some figures I painted in the just-finished Analogue Winter Challenge:

First, some crows. These are for the board game Zombicide, but are available separately, and I thought they would complement my SAGA revenants nicely. They could work as fatigue markers, and generally look good en masse.

Next, a boy and his wolf. The boy is from Elladan, and I worry about the join between his wrist and his sword-hand. The wolf is from Reaper and is my first figure from their Bones range.

Finally, my first figure from Annie at Bad Squiddo was her 'Little Lady Warmonger', which comes with a mounted and dismounted version. A cracking little sculpt!

So, I'll be keeping a close eye on Fireforge's upcoming figure ranges...

Saga Revenants

These are Gripping Beast's Revenants, a six point Saga force. They are a good blend of horrific and comical, and take a slapdash paint job really well.

Saga Revenants

They come with two Grave Pits, that can be moved about the battlefield and 'erupted' into fresh undead units.

Grave Pits

I got a Draugr from Elladan to use as their leader. It is a lovely model, albeit fragile around the arms.

Elladan Draugr

The snow is PVA glue, baking soda, and a smidgen of Secret Weapon crushed glass.

These were the last thing I painted for the Analogue Painting Challenge, and it's been hard to pick up a brush after that! I even forgot to post here last week...

The Harrying of the North- Saga report

A Saga battle- Clash of the warlords- 6 points Normans vs Anglo-Danes.

Northern England, late tenth century. Ealdorman Godwin's Anglo-Danes stand against the Norman invaders... learn more about the Harrying of the North here.

The club's light-narrative Saga campaign continues. My Anglo-Danes face a bow-heavy Norman force, led by William the Bastard himself.

Anglo-Danes

• Ealdorman Godwin
• 2 Hearthguard (Dane axes)
• 3 Warriors
• 1 Levy

Normans

• William the Bastard
• 1 Hearthguard (mounted)
• 4 Warriors (bows)

William's army is allowed to have an excess of bows. Quelle fromage! My only chance was to advance swiftly across the open ground and close with him before his arrows did too much damage.

Setup- The Normans cower in a corner.

The Norman occupation force- Warriors in front, Hearthguard and William behind.

Turns1-3: His Massed Volleys destroy my levy and most of my warriors. Storm of Arrows is very effective for William the Bastard. I try to pile fatigue on him but without too much success.

The Levy have been destroyed by ranged fire.

The Anglo-Danes come closer...

...closer...

...while the arrows take their toll.

Turn 4: A depleted and angry pair of my warriors sacrifice themselves against the right of the Norman line, but without destroying a unit. My overstrength Hearthguard damage (but don't destroy) the adjacent bows, but are cut down to a man by a devestating counter-charge from William and his mounted Knights.

The Hearthguard hack into the Norman line...

...but are cut down by a mounted charge.

Turn 5: The warlords face off- Godwin's mighty axe unhorses William for victory!

William (far right)- honour demands he charge Godwin!

But horses and axes don't mix...

This was close- the ranged abilities of the Normans had me on the ropes, and the only chance I had to take William out in hand-to-hand combat paid off.

Getting in early for International Tabletop Day!

Saga Vikings 6 points

I finally got these finished! I'm happy with the limited palette, which ties them together as a force.They are all Gripping Beast figures- the Berserkers and Levy are metal, the rest are plastic. Follow these links for more pics:

• Warlord
• 4 Berserkers
• 8 Hearthguard (pics below)
• 16 Warriors
• 12 Levies

When I finished off the Warriors, I also took the opportunity to improve the Hearthguard's helmets, swords, and shields.

Viking Warriors

It's been a while, but I finally got my Gripping Beast plastic Viking warriors done for Saga. The figures are, by design, generic, but the faces are very characterful and a pleasure to paint. I hadn't planned to have detailed shields, but got caught up and painted a few designs on.

I'm just tarting up my Hearthguard, and next time I'll show pics of my entire Viking force.

Club games: Omega Protocol, and Saga battle report

So, I made it down to the monthly Newcastle Legion Club meet, and got two games in.

First, I played Shannon in Level 7- Omega Protocol. This is a gun-crawl following on from the events of Level 7- Escape, a smaller-scale tile-based survival horror game. L7-Escape is about an underground lab where human-alien hybrid experiments have gone wrong, and you have to escape. L7-Omega Protocol is the spec-ops team going back in to mop up.

My three commandos of Team Disco* advanced through the first level, finding both the required intel and the exit lift. I mowed down more than a few Greys, and took a few scratches in return, but nothing too serious. I'm sure we overlooked a few rules.

Team Disco preps a napalm grenade for a target-rich environment

The aliens are of the 'Grey' variety, and the sculpts are suitably creepy. The commandos are hard-SF full body armour types, and all the minis and components are decent. The dice are nice simple hit-miss custom dice in black or red, depending on damage potential.

Gameplay was surprisingly good. Commando action points are spent and then passed to the alien player- the more you do, the more he can do and vice versa. Each soldier comes with extra kit options to boost their abilities. Each turn you select a 'Stance' for each soldier- firing, advancing, or running- which doesn't limit what you can do, as much as how well you do it. For example, if I sprint I can still shoot but not very well, and if I shoot I can't move so far, etc.

Next, it was time to get back into Saga with a 4-point game against DC. We're kicking off a light narrative campaign. The border was being threatened by Vikings, and Godwin's Anglo-Danes were protecting the bridges. Here are DC's photos from his perspective (and my only one):

Vikings start with an aggressive charge over the right bridge

Berserkers and Warlord approach my Warriors and Godwin!

My levy are covering the middle...

...and wheel neatly out to pepper the Berserkers. Survivors are mopped up by the Warriors.

Viking Warlord now charges the Anglo-Dane warriors...

...and almost kills them, but now faces down Godwin.

A clash of steel!

Godwin wins! Viking Warriors come to avenge their chief...

...but Godwin sends them to Valhalla.

And on the other flank, I charge the bridge and push the Vikings back.

A risky charge by the proud Viking warlord didn't pay off, and my warlord (the newly-christened Ealdorman Godwin) chopped off many arrogant Viking heads. I managed to clear the field of my opponent, huzzah! Sharp eyes will note my force is a mix of my Vikings and Anglo-Danes, including my newly-painted Viking warriors. More of them in my next post. DC's Vikings are metal Gripping Beast figures.

* yes, really.