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.

AAR: The Challenge - Normans v Anglo-Danes

This was a four-point grudge match....  "Baron Henri Deux surveyed the area, apart from some grain in the process of being harvested there was nothing to be said for this piece of land. In the distance he could see a band of men approaching on foot. So, this was to be the ground he would revenge himself on the Dane Warlord Meikson for the death of his Father. He and his men moved forward. Peasants scattered to the wind as the Norman horses trotted up to their fields.

The two mighty Warlords approached each other, leaving their forces behind. They nodded to each other then called Challenge. This would be to the death.... let battle commence!"

The mission was simple, get as many wounds on the enemy Warlord as possible. Kill him if you can. In an hour or so, one side should be victorious.

The forces line up - Anglo-Danes hugging the hedge....

Box Opening: Gripping Beast Dark Age Warriors

After getting my first box of Gripping Beast's plastic Dark Age Warriors, here is my review of this product.
Firstly, the box itself is fairly slim and is complete with a set of square plastic Renedra bases. A useful addition to the box. Second are some assembly guides.



Focus On Heroes: Artgal, King of Alt Clut

Artgal is one of the two Heroes of the Viking Age that can be fielded by the Strathclyde faction in SAGA. You can find his details in the Saga supplement The Raven's Shadow on page 20.

View North across the River Clyde toward Dumbarton Castle

Review of Saga supplement Varjazi & Basileus

Having got my copy of the latest Saga supplement Varjazi & Basileus I wanted to give those who are considering purchasing an overview. I won't go into full detail of battleboards and history here. Mike Haught did an excellent job of covering the Pagan Rus Battleboard in his recent article so I won't go over that here either.

more SAGA!

So, what do you get for your money? The main booklet is 16 pages cover to cover, thin by previous standards. It also comes with a colourful folder that becomes a wallet for storing all your supplements and Battleboards. This is a nice feature that helps makes up for the fact that this book contains only three factions, one of those being a reprint of a magazine article.

However, those things aside, this supplement has the usual glossy, colourful and easy to follow style of its predecessors. My biggest issue is trying to pronounce the title which does not trip off the tongue (!)

The Battleboards are still nice and solid with clear text. There are no special features of the Battleboards (no Wrath or similar). I only spotted one minor typo on these boards (what's an ordres phase...?)

Review: Black Tree Designs Norman Knights

During the last round of Black Tree Design 50% sales, I picked up three bags of Norman Knights.  One command pack and two packs of armored knights with swords.  The command pack included a nobel with a sword, a musician and a standard bearer.

Homeland AAR: Normans v Anglo-Danes

After his recent success near the Fjord, Baron Harry lacked the men to continue on toward the Anglo-Dane village and sack it. He turned and headed back to his camp to collect reinforcements. Sadly, he no longer had all his Knights to choose from and so chose from what forces he had available.

At the village, Meikson had received news of his fathers death at the hands of the Normans. Now being the new Warlord, he would not let his village be sacked. Hastily sending to his Uncle Alfarr for reinforcements, he then sent the peasants to the hills and waited for whatever men he could gather to his banner. Would they arrive before the Normans? One thing was sure, the Normans would pay dearly to take this village!

Note: in order to keep the narrative going, we decided to run a modified Homeland scenario. The Anglo-Danes were automatically the defenders with one point less than the Normans to reflect the situation and the Homeland rules on defending. As the Normans had recently lost so many Knights, we decided to run with 4 point forces (3 for the Danes) and making use of the troops leftover that were not used in the first game.

Special Rules: "War Banners" were used from the Raven's Shadow supplement. The optional rule on the second player having 3 Saga dice to start with was used (Raven's Shadow page 26).


Anglo-Dane Forces:
Meikson, eldest son of Meik (Warlord)
Hearthguard (8 with banner)
Hearthguard

Norman Forces:
Baron Harry the Youthful (Warlord)
Mounted Knights
Warriors (spear and shield)
Warriors (crossbows)
Levy (bows)

Deployment:

Normans prepare to sack the village.... maybe there is someone at home to defend it though?