Mini Review - Gripping Beast Crusader Axe & Egil

Here are a couple of units for Saga that escaped the other reviews for various reasons.
They were kindly supplied by Gripping Beast.

Firstly a C&C Crusader Hearthguard Axemen unit (that links to this article) and then a Hero of the Viking Age, Egil Skalagrimsson (I covered his abilities in this article).

Gripping Beast Crusader Axemen

Model Review: Gripping Beast Swords for Hire: Monks and Minstrels!

Gripping beast have sent some more metal figures from their extensive range for the Saga wargame. This time it is the turn of the Bards and the Angry Monks.

Let's start with the Angry Monks...

Gripping Beast Angry Monks - armed to the teeth!

Swords for Hire - Flemish Mercenaries

One of the number of "Swords for Hire" Units you can get in the Saga wargame are Flemish mercenaries.

These guys are sell-swords, or rather spears! Professional soldiers to bolster your faction.

What's so special about them? Let's take a look.

A unit of imposing Gripping Beast Flemish Mercenaries

Model Review: Gripping Beast Swords for Hire Units

I thought it would be interesting to review some of the Saga Swords for Hire units instead of one specific faction.

These units can usually be bought by almost any faction in the game and help give some variation and tactical differences to forces.

Lets start by taking a look at the Gall-Gaedhil, "The Sons of Death"... you can read more about them here. Additionally, you can find the models here.

Gripping Beast 'Sons of Death'

Chernye Klobuki - the Black Hoods

The Chernye Klobuki or "Black Hoods" were a mercenary force that can be used as "Swords for Hire" in the Saga game. They are an upgrade to the 'Steppe Tribes' in the Rus Princes faction. Who were they and what can they bring to the Saga game...?

 

A hardened unit of Black Hoods from the Gripping Beast Range!

Swords for Hire - Egil Skalagrimsson

So, who is this legendary Hero of the Viking Age? He certainly has a striking model available from Gripping Beast.

History and Legend:

There are a number of sources about Egil, you can click this link for the wiki page. Here is a link to an academic text about the possibility of Egil suffering from Paget's disease. Let's see what Gripping Beast have to say about this legendary character...

"Egil Skalagrimsson was an Icelandic adventurer and Skald (poet) who lived in the 10th century and was the hero of his own saga. He became famous for his eloquence, his brutality and his
knowledge of the power of the runes. His ill-temper became known quite early, when at the age of 7 he put his axe in the head of another boy, accused by Egil of cheating during a game. His behaviour and brutality led to his banishment. He sailed to England, where he served as mercenary having incredible adventures and fighting countless battles. He died peacefully at the venerable age of 80, as wealthy as a king and as a legend in the Viking world."

Egil Skalagrimsson (Copyright GB / Mystic Spirals)

Rules for this Sword for Hire unit:

Inclusion: Egil and his Vikings may be included in any warband that doesn’t use the Viking Saga Dice.

Composition: This unit is composed of Egil and either 3 Hirdmen Heathguards (for 2 points) or 7 Hirdmen Heathguards (for 3 points).

Victory Points: Each Hirdman is worth 1 victory point and Egil is worth 3 victory points.

'The Skald': Egil generates 4 Attack Dice in melee and he and his Hirdmen have an Armour of 5. Within the unit, Egil will always be the last model removed. You cannot remove Egil until all other models have been removed. If this is not possible without breaking the unit formation, exchange Egil with another of the models in his unit before removing casualties to maintain unit formation.

'Vikings!': This unit generates a number of Saga Dice equal to half the models composing it. These Saga Dice are Viking Dice and will be used with the Viking Battleboard. The player controlling Egil will therefore have two Battleboards: his faction board and the Viking board. These Saga dice do not count against the six dice rolled at the start of each turn; they are handled separately from your faction Saga dice.

The Saga Dice generated by this unit may only be used on the Viking Battleboard and this unit may never benefit from Saga abilities from your faction Battleboard. It can only be activated or supported by abilities generated by the Viking Battleboard.

Summary:

You can see that this is not just a simple or cheap mercenary unit. They eat into your points and provide their own set of Saga dice. While they can deliver a decisive blow in their larger unit form, you have to balance that against the reduction in Saga dice for your other units to use on their own faction battleboard.

Egil Skalagrimsson (Copyright GB / Mystic Spirals)

If you have any advice on using Egil and his band then please go to the forum link below...


Swords for Hire - The 'Sons of Death'

This time another unit of mercenaries for Saga - The Gall-Gaedhil "Sons of Death".

The Gall-Gaedhil ("Foreign"), also known as “The Sons of Death” were lawless warriors of mixed Norse and Gael blood, that are first mentioned in the Irish Annals in the 9th century. They were marauding bands of adventurers and looters that joined the Vikings in their plundering expeditions.

Later, the name came to designate all mercenaries that came from the Norse colonies of the Isles where Norse and Scot blood was mixed. Their ferocity, coupled with their warrior pagan cults as Diberna or Fianna earned them a well-deserved terrifying reputation. Swords for Hire: The Gall-Gaedhil are mercenaries and may be included in any Saga warband.



Rules for the "Sons of Death"...

Recruiting the Gall-Gaedhil:
Adding the Gall-Gaedhil to your warband costs two points. A warband led by a Hero of the Viking Age may not include the Gall-Gaedhil.

Sons of Death:
This unit is composed of 8 foot Warriors. They have an Armor of 4, and each of them generates two Attack Dice. The unit of Gall-Gaedhil doesn’t generate any Saga Dice. Unlike of other Warriors each Gall-Gaedhil is worth 1 VP.

Lawless:
The Gall-Gaedhil must be the first unit activated each turn of their controlling player. Once any other unit of their warband has been activated, they may not be activated this turn anymore. Their activations are unlimited within a turn, and are free, so don’t cost any Saga die (but they take Fatigue as any other unit). The Gall-Gaedhil may never be targeted by Saga abilities played by their controlling player. If a Saga ability played by their controlling player targets more than one unit, the other units still are affected by the ability, with the Gall-Gaedhil being immune to its effects.

Blood calls Blood:
At the end of step 4) of any melee, any unit engaged with the Gall-Gaedhil suffers a number of extra hits equal to half the number of successful hits they scored against the Gall-Gaedhil.

Looters:
After the deployment but before the first turn, the unit of Gall-Gaedhil may make a single movement.


Use in Saga:
In games of Saga, the Gall-Gaedhil make for a tough unit that can cover ground quickly and hold it

They have plenty of attacks (they get a free hit from "Blood Calls Blood") but if fatigued seemed to make for a glass hammer. They cannot receive a War Banner as a unit of only eight warriors, so being attacked immediately after making several moves would be costly (enemies with cavalry may not be their ideal opponents).

They cost two points, so would be an expensive strike force in any faction. The fact that they can't generate Saga dice but in return don't need any to activate means they could "hold on" when the rest of your force is smashed. Equally though, those two Saga they could give you as two units of Hearthguard could be used elsewhere.

They appear to be a situational unit, possibly in a faction that lacks serious hitting power (a skirmish force). They would still suffer from other effects such as the Pagan Rus "Great Winter" so you have to decide ahead of a game whether to use them.



Swords for Hire - Wandering Bard

by Mike Wood

Picture this.... there is your Warlord in the midst of Battle killing his enemies, driving them before him and hearing the lamentation of the women.... but who will remember this day and the brave feats? Who will recall the stories? Well, the guys at Gripping Beast had a good idea for that. A Bard! Yes, brave 'Sir Robin', is here to recount tales of valour, honour, slaying. That sort of thing, as long as your Warlord does all the killing by themselves!. So what does a Bard do in the game of Saga? Let's take a look... 

"The Bard" by John Martin

The Bard is a "Sword for Hire" unit and the good news is - he's free!
You can add him to your Warband with no cost to points. However, all is not rosy as "free" comes at a price....

Swords for Hire - Angry Monks!

by Mike Wood

One of the more unusual options available to the Saga wargamer is a unit of Monks. Not your usual fare? We take a look at the 'Sword for Hire' unit of Monk Levies and their Rules in the Saga wargame....

They may not be the ultimate in combat units, but they do have a couple of side-effects that may be of use to some Saga players.

Gripping Beasts unit of Monks

 

Here is what Gripping Beast has to say about the role of Monks in the Saga Wargame....

Swords for Hire - Hereward the Wake

Usually it is the Heroes of the Viking Age who change the feel of each faction through their special abilities, here it is this unusual addition of a 'Sword for Hire' special Hero character that changes the composition of your Anglo-Dane force in the Saga wargame.

Hereward killing Normans

The Legend surrounding Hereward the Wake has grown up over the centuries such that it is difficult to separate fact from fiction. He was an exile, outlaw and resister against the Norman occupation. In ways that parallel the tale of Robin Hood, he was seen as a Hero in the struggle against an oppressive power.
The name "Wake" seems to have been attributed to Hereward hundreds of years later, possibly meaning "the Watchful". 

Swords for Hire: Steppe Nomads

The recent Saga supplement Varjazi & Basileus contains an interesting little unit available to some of the factions.These Steppe Nomads are an upgrade that can add some flexibility.

Steppe Nomads - Swords for Hire (Copyright GB)

Steppe Nomads were tribes of peoples moving across Eastern Europe and Central Asia. Their skills and abilities with bows and horses along with a cruel nature made them ideal mercenaries for various armies, including the Rus and the Byzantines.