When starting a new army I first collect all of the figures I need. I then prepare and base them. For individually based figures for games like Saga I also make sure I have movement trays for each unit. The advantage of the trays is that it makes it easier to move figures on and off the display shelves, and for game purposes makes unit movement easier.

I use the bases and movement trays from either Mike Parker or  back2base-ix

Brian Boru

I wanted to be able to use the set of figures from Footsore Miniatures as both a scenic display and as individual figures when required. The movement tray was specially designed by Mike Parker so that I could achieve this.

Standard Warlord

I also wanted a generic Warlord and have used the Crusader model based on a larger 40mm base to make it easier to recognise or distinguish on the table. The same 40mm base was used for Brian Boru.

Priests

I could not decide between the Gripping beast priest model and the one from Footsore Miniatures so I purchased both. Like the warlords they have been based on 40mm round bases. I also intend to use the Gripping Beast models (left) as the Priest for my Crusader Saga army.

The 40mm round bases provides enough space to be able to create an individual scene.

Heroes of the Viking Age

With Brian Boru already being used as one of my Warlord options this only left his brother Ulf from the list. Again I purchased both the Footsore and Gripping Beast models.

Curaidh (or heroes)

 I intend to use the Footsore Ulf miniature (left)  as a standard Curiadh with the Crusader hero figure as my two choices. I love the Crusader figure because the lack of armour, dress  and equipment has a particular Irish “pugilist” feel that wouldn’t look out-of-place in a Victorian boxing ring.

Fianna (Hearthguard)

For the Fianna I wanted a few options. Firstly a six and a four figure mounted unit. both options were required in case I chose the Curaidh option and needed the two units.

 You will note movement trays to suit both options.

The foot Fianna were required in both Danish Axe and standard options. I used the Gripping Beast Danish Axes modes and a combination of Footsore miniatures for the standard option. I will use a combination of both units to make a  6 figure unit. Again movement trays have been organised for all of these options.

Bonnachts (Warriors).

Warriors should form the basis of any Saga armour so I have purchased two units of standard warriors and a third as Irish wolfhounds.

With the figures now purchased, based, and prepared, the last step prior to painting is to undercoat the army. I use a a light spray of Tamiya TS3 “Desert Yellow”.

In the next post I will use a few units as examples of how I paint my armies.

Following on from last week’s remembrance blog I thought it would be good to reminisce on what else happened on this day:

• 1863   Longstreet defeats the dastardly Union at Bean’s Station – “yah”;
• 1941   German Field Marshal Wilhelm Keitel orders the construction of the Atlantic Wall – “boo”;
• 1799   George Washington dies on his Mount Vernon estate – ”keh?”.

I also visited Berwick Wargames Association on Saturday for a Dark Age skirmish game but ended up playing a 7 Years War game using Black Powder. Now those of you who know me will be aware that other than for the French Indian Wars the 7 Years War is my least favourite period of history. I just do not like the linear tactics involved. I am also not a fan of the Black Powder suite of rules. Despite this I had a great time (copious quantities of red fluid helped to deaden the pain), as the Prussians whooped the Austrians.

My boys from Nancy with pink flags and uniforms would not have looked out of place at any Sydney Mardi Gras, however with expert leadership, they charged and defeated a cavalry unit and smashed two units in the flank to almost win the game single handed. The most pleasing part of the day was to beat Wal’s cavalry with a unit of skirmisher who were charged, held, and with the hand of the Nancy boys routed the cavalry. All in all any time you beat Wal, especially with skirmishers, it has to be a great day.

Enough of that, now for this week’s game.

Saga Game 14 December 2016

Well for the third week in a row we had all three of the little pigs in attendance, this time for a Saga game playing the Wooden Oaths scenario. For those of you not familiar with the scenario that is found in the Northern Fury supplement it is a game for four players (for us three players and a dummy hmmmm??), in two sides. Allegiances can change at the end of each of the first four turns. This allows for a fun game where you have to watch your back at every turn – well it is Saga isn’t it?

The three player armies were the same as for the 2 December blog so I will not detail them again here. The fourth “dummy player” was a Breton army consisting of four mounted hearth guard units and a mounted warlord. The “dummy player” would be controlled by the player who does not have an ally. In the first four turns all three players cannot be on the same side. Should this occur all players are fighting separately, with the “dummy player continuing allegiance with the last player that controlled them.

The initial set-up had the Anglo Danes and the Vikings deployed conservatively and the Bretons and Irish deployed to launch an attack on each other.

The Vikings and the Bretons were allied for the first turn and the Anglo Danes and the Irish were lined up against them. The Anglo Danes and the Vikings moved as conservatively as they had deployed and cautiously advanced. The Vikings in particular had witnessed the “Sons of Dana” cause chaos in previous battles and used their micrometer and slide rule to ensure their troops could not be attacked by the faeries (Vikings used these didn’t they?).

Fortunately for the Irish of Rudraige mac Dela they moved before the Bretons and unleashed a ferocious attack before the Bretons could obtain some Saga dice. The warriors moved, unleashed javelins against the Breton Hearthguard, and then moved again to charge the remainder. When the dust settled one warrior had died but no Bretons were left standing.

A Curaidh did likewise. He moved, unleashed javelins against the Breton Hearthguard taking one out, and then moved again to charge the remainder.  Demonstrating that he was a true “Seed of Ireland”, as he drew his last breath he hit all three who promply failed their armour saves. The Breton warlord had now witnessed two Hearthguard units destroyed in front of him.  Taking advantage of the fatigue this created Rudraige mac Dela charged the Breton in mortal combat. With the “Blood of the Kings” running in his veins Rudraige ignored three of the four hits against him, with the fourth being “saved” by a loyal warrior who took one for the team. Fighting alone and with reduced armour the Breton warlord fell, becoming the third head of an enemy warlord to decorate the halls of Rudraige mac Dela.

A second Curaidh charged down from his hilltop advantage into the flank of a third Breton Hearthguard unit and died gloriously for the loss of one Hearthguard.

The Breton response was quick, but with only 2 Saga dice remaining, was not very effective.

With such a ferocious first turn the red team had a huge advantage.

The second turn commenced with a truce between the Anglo Danes and the Vikings and the subjugation of the Bretons by the Irish. Other than an attack from the “Sons of Dana” most of the turn passed uneventful. The leaderless Breton Hearthguard moved last, and following their Irish overlords charged.  The Anglo Danes stood to take the charge wiping one unit out on contact. A second charge destroyed them but only two Breton knights remained on the field. Although the Anglo Danes gained some points for the black team the reds were still well in front.

Turn three began with the Anglo-Viking alliance breaking down. A charge by the Danish Hearthguard saw a Viking warrior unit extremely prepared with Saga defence dice quickly destroy them. The Vikings, still in the grips of “Sons of Dana” paranoia, were advancing very slowly and the Irish had finally recovered all of their fatigue from the first turn.

The final two turns saw the Anglo Danish and Viking alliance re-instated as the red team and the Irish as the black. For two turns the Vikings retreated content with their victory points already built up for the reds (virtually all by their Irish opponent) and the Irish trying to make up the difference for the black.

The pawn in all of this was the Anglo Dane Eadric Wulfssige, for it was his losses that would determine victory.

The remaining two Bretons were charged by the irish and wiped out.

A ferocious Irish attack over the last two turns on the Anglo Danes saw their Warlord Eadric Wulfssige (a fourth warlord head) and two Hearthguard units fall before the might of Rudraige mac Dela.

Despite the mighty effort of Rudraige to bridge the gap that he had created between the red and the black teams, there just were not enough Danish “kills” left on the table to do so.

Of the 53 kill points achieved most were by the Irish, but it was the cunning of Viking David K. that tasted victory 27 to 19 (David S.) to 7 (Andrew).

The efforts of David K will be sung long and loud in the Viking Saga of Infamy as the only Viking player not to have initiated at least one attack for the entire duration of a Saga game.

Warlord

The warlord may be mounted or on foot.

I am looking at several warlord options to cater for different types of games and my whims at the time.

As I said in the first part of this article I like the idea of playing games that have period flavour and the “Old” Brian Boru option suits this.

Brian Boru is equipped with just standard weapons, which you hope he does not have to use as this would be the signal that you are desperate, have been outplayed, or probably both. The advantage is that he allows you to take off fatigue at the end of each turn and generates three saga dice. The lack of a fighting warlord can be off-set with taking other options which I will discuss below.

The “first among many rule” to upgrade a Curaidh can help with some scenarios and is worth considering.

Option 2 is to run a mounted warlord, in which case he has standard weapons and armour 5/5, which has been reduced due to the mounted option. Powerful if also used with mounted Fianna.

Option 3 is to us the warlord on foot with Javelins and 5/6 armour, giving you the capacity to shoot at the end of your move for no additional fatigue.

A Danish Axe option would give armour of 4/6. The Danish axe combined with “Blood of the Kings” is a really good combination if you want to go “Warlord hunting”.

So the warlord options are:

• Brian Boru, if also taking other nasties;
•  a mounted warlord if also using mounted Fianna; and
• the Danish Axe option if he is on foot.

I would use the “old Brian” in most games and the Mounted or foot Danish Axe options if in a competition environment.

Use Brian Boru at the back of the table “out of the way” so that he can take fatigue off units without putting himself in danger.

A mounted warlord should join his mounted Fianna and get stuck in a soon as possible, preferably on those weaker warrior units that generate saga dice. By preceding a mounted charge with “Sons of Dana” you will be fighting a weakened unit with up to  13 dice.

Danish axe armed warlords should “get stuck in” as soon as you can.

An Irish warlord should never fight in melee without “Blood of the Kings” preferably by using the “rare” elk dice. The increased resilience of three is very formidable and makes your warlord virtually invulnerable.

Fianna (hearthguards)

Irish Fianna have reduced armour against shooting due to lack of chain mail
and may be mounted (have standard weapons) with armour 5/4 (reduced due to being mounted). If on foot they can have Javelins or Danish Axes Armour 5/4 with Javelins, and 4/4 with Danish axe. See also the Ravens Shadow FAQ for comments and clarification.

I like the mounted option to charge quickly and engage an enemy warrior unit in the first or second turn. Using “Sons of Dana” on an eight man warrior unit can often take two or three off before you charge.

Curaidh

Curaidh can be fielded on foot with an armour value of 5/6 or mounted if your warlord is mounted with an armour value of 5/5.

I would use Ulf if fielding Brian Boru which means you cannot take any other Curaidh. He has several advantages. Firstly, as a hero he is not a replacement for an existing Fianna which means you do not have to take 2 Fianna units to be able to field him. Secondly he is a real killing machine that more than makes up for the “old Brian”. He is armed with javelins.

Should you have chosen either the mounted warlord or Danish axe option I would take 2 units of Fianna fielded as one unit of six mounted or on foot with Danish axes and 2 foot Curaidh armed with javelins. Curaidh cannot have Danish axes.

Priest

Why a priest? Coz they are cool!!! There are three priest options, two have advantages that are similar to taking “old Brian” and the third is the warrior priest.

The priest as warlord option is not one I prefer and have ruled this out.

The Religious adviser gains saga dice and reduces fatigue and the “Enlightened One”, who is a crazy hermit, can change saga dice once they have been rolled to a more preferred option. Both are good but not my cup of tea.

The warrior priest is a different matter. With his “side by side and we obey” special rules he should always fight with another unit. The “blade that punishes” option where you discard any saga dice already rolled to gain 3 attacks, lose one fatigue and add dice to a unit that is fighting in melee with him is just plain awesome.

Brian Boru, Ulf and a priest makes a powerful and themed combination. I would only use a priest in this combination and go unit hunting. Remember Brian was famous for re-building many of the churches and monasteries destroyed by the Vikings so the priest is not a too far-fetched option. Really!!

Bonnachts (warriors)

Warriors can only be fielded on foot, armed with javelins, and have an armour value of 4/3, due to light protection.

Taking at least one unit is a must, as they can be very powerful shooting with their javelins, especially if used with the appropriate saga shooting abilities like Fir Bolg, Eagle Eye and Bansidh Whispers (and preferably all three together).

Warriors can also be fielded as a pack master and Irish wolfhound. They only have an armour value of 3/3 so are very vulnerable to shooting, but can move L without any terrain restrictions (except of course impassable terrain).

Use their speed to fill gaps and charge through terrain to surprise units. I will always have the one maximum that you are allowed. Another option that I have thought about but not used is to run one normal warrior unit of 12 with a standard, for the extra shooting, and a unit of four wolfhounds. Remember you can only use one so 2 four hound units are not permitted.The pack master should carry a red, white and blue banner with a cup emblazoned on it!!!

I would therefore always use at least one unit of warriors and one of wolfhounds.

Kerns (Levy)

Levies Ptah!!!

The only value that Levies have is as human shields and the occasional bit of shooting.

In addition they only move on the rare elk dice which is far more useful for saga abilities than being spent on moving or shooting a levy unit.

Bonnachts and Hearthguard with javelins makes the levies a redundant choice.

Levies do not suit my style of play and I can see no practical use for them.

Just so my view point is extremely clear – I consider them a waste of shelf space and my limited “toy” budget.

Conclusion

I hope this gives you a bit more of an idea on how I intend to use my Irish. To my opponents may the runes always be in my favour and may you always roll ones.

The next installment will be on how I have painted the Irish army. Given most of the figures have already arrived this should be sooner than I first expected.

A really well done to War and Peace Games and Footsore miniatures for their prompt service.

Building a Irish Saga Army Part 1

I have been playing Saga for a number of years on and off, mainly using left over 28mmm Vikings from my DBM days. The Viking warband never really grabbed me, probably because it was chosen for me because of the existing figures I had.

While these figures look great I have stopped using the Viking warband and of recent times have started using the Viking figures as proxy Irish and really like the way that they play. As a result I have started looking at figures to build an Irish war band with Irish figures.

Let’s start with the warlord.

I generally use my warlord as a fighting machine which with the Irish you can make almost invulnerable with the “Blood of Kings” saga ability.

In the end I decided to use the High King Brian Boruma mac Cennetig. I have no rationale for this other than being an old codger myself I like the idea of the warband being led by a dottery old 88 year old who was killed by his fleeing enemy because he just couldn’t get out of their way!

The old Brian Boruma mac Cennetig is far from the peak of health and should avoid close combat at all, but his presence inspires all Irish units, enabling them to reduce fatigue. In addition unlike other Heroes of the Viking Age he does not cost you anything.

The decision means you are trading a fighting warlord for one that is more defensive in nature.

Having made the decision to go with the High king, how then should I depict him? The easy answer would be to just use one of my existing Warlord types but the whole purpose was to build an Irish army using Irish figures. I also wanted a figure that would depict the Old Boru. Two suppliers have a seated Brian Boru, Footsore Miniatures and Gripping Beast.

https://footsoreminiatures.co.uk/products/brian-boru

http://www.grippingbeast.co.uk/SHVA13_Brian_Boru_First_High_King_of_The_Irish_1–product–5163.html

Crusader miniatures also have a Brian Boru mounted and on foot.

http://www.crusaderminiatures.com/prod.php?prod=125

I preferred the look of the Gripping Beast figure, but because it was going to be the only figure I ordered from North Star I went for the Footsore Miniatures version. The three figure pack will allow me to complete a nice scenic base befitting the High King.

Should I decide to use a more aggressive warlord down the track, the model could be used to depict his son,  ……………..

With the Warlord decided upon for no points cost yet what was next?

By using High King Brian Boruma mac Cennetig I could also take Ulf the Quarrelsome, his avenging brother. He is a souped up Curaidh with 6 attacks and armour 6. Who better to avenge the death of the High King?

Virtually any Hearthguard figure could be used for Ulf. Eventually I chose The Footsore Ulf figure.

https://footsoreminiatures.co.uk/products/ulf-the-quarrelsome

As my final character I chose a warrior priest, because what quarrelsome Irish contingent should be without one?

There is any amount of 28mm warrior priests on the fantasy and historical figure market. I already had several but they were in appropriate “unit sizes” that I did not want to break up. I liked the Foot Sore miniatures one because he looked suitably Irish (you can tell by the shamrocks under his cassock!) so that was ordered.

 For a warband list that did not include Ulf the Quarrelsome I would substitute him for 2 Curaidh and do away with the Warrior priest. To maintain the warband narrative I could still use these two figures and their names as standard Curaidh or I could use two other figures. The Footsore champions are excellent and I decided to have the choice of both options..

 I now have two special characters and a warrior priest for 2 pts or a special character and two Curaidh for zero points. In order to be able to take the two Curaidh I need two units of Fianna.

 Irish mounted Fianna only receive the minus 1 on armour for being mounted as they are assumed to be the best equipped (see FAQ). Their foot cousins also receive a minus 1 because of the scarcity of armour available in Ireland.

 I chose two units of four mounted combined into a unit of six with two dismounted Curaidh, or one of four if Ulf and the warrior priest are being fielded.

 Crusader miniatures make two packs of mounted Irish Nobles. I have chosen one of each.

 The Irish warband can have a devastating shooting phase if the right saga abilities can be employed together. The added advantage is both their Fianna and Bonnacht’s can move and shoot with javelins.

 In order to use these benefits I chose two units of Bonnachts. Crusader Miniatures have a unit command (4 figures) of which I purchased two and a unit of Irish unarmoured warriors (8 figures). This gave me two units of eight complete with command figures just in case down the track I wanted to use the Banner Rules.

 Finally for my last choice you cannot have an Irish army without Irish Wolfhounds. There are a number of these figures on the market but I decided on the Crusader Irish Wolfhound pack but I may substitute the handlers supplied for the Frost Grave handler I already have.

 So what did I finally end up with?

6 Point Warband

 Brian Boru

Ulf the Quarrelsome

Warrior priest

1 X 4 Mounted Fianna

2 X 8 Bonnachts

1 X 8 Wolfhounds

4 Point Warband

 Brian Boru

2 only Curaidh

1 X 6 Mounted Fianna (2 units combined)

1 X 8 Bonnachts

1 X 8 Wolfhounds

I also wanted a bit of variety and have also allowed for a “no name” warlord and a unit of 4 Fianna on foot. The Crusader Warlords and Leader pack will do nicely and enable me to build the Fianna on foot as well.

This should give me all the variety I require. With the composition of the army and the figures chosen I now just have to decide how I am using them. I will have plenty of time to think about this while I am waiting for the figures to arrive.

 Part 2 will deal with the tactics I plan on using, although as Helmuth von Moltke said,

 “No Battle Plan Survives Contact with the Enemy”.

Good luck and happy gaming David S.