Monday 31 March 2014

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




Wednesday 26 March 2014

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.

Sunday 23 March 2014

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.