Sunday 4 December 2016

4th December - 3rd December Saga vs The Youngest

We've been quite a busy household over the last month but Arwen and I managed to squeeze in a game of Saga yesterday. While I couldn't find the newer rules for her Irish we did find an updated version of one of the scenarios we hadn't got on the table as of yet and decided to give it a whirl. It's basically a pure victory points scenario where the warchief cannot die, however each wound that would have killed them equals one victory point and either the first person to get more than ten points difference or the most points after six turns is the winner.

I played the Vikings this game and took three points of Hearthguard (one of which I ran as Beserkers, the other two as one solid unit of Hirdman) and the remaining three points were Warriors. Arwen took her usual two points of Hearthguard (one unit of six and her two Curaidh) and the rest of her points as Warriors with one unit being her Wolfhounds.


The other main point of difference in this scenario is that the Warchiefs both start in the centre of the table basically having begun the fight without their men.


The viking Bondi quickly moved to support their Chieftain running straight up the field of battle to assist him in his struggle. While they moved up at the double the more experienced members of the viking warband advanced up at a more cautious pace waiting to see which way the Irish would respond. Finally a second Bondi unit moved in to protect the flank from the distant Irish Warhounds.


Suddenly hidden Irish patriots began to hurl javelins at the Berserker unit as they skirted the woods then as quickly as they appeared the 'Sons of Dana' melted back into the forest leaving one fur clad Northman lying on the battlefield. This was followed by the Irish Hearthguard advancing up to their warchief and while several of their javelins found the leader of the Viking warband only one managed to penetrate the grizzled warriors defences.


The Berserkers foaming at the mouth after seeing such an unmanly ranged attack on their war leader charge the Irish chief screaming to 'Frigg' and 'Thor' but the Irishman proves to be quite the warrior in his own right, not only managing to deflect the mighty blows from the Vikings but also killing them all with his own mighty swings. This moved the Viking leader to anger and he moved in on his counterpart himself wounding the man and driving him back.


Again a hail of Javelins strike out toward the Norse warchief but this time not a single missile finds it's target. Meanwhile one of the Curaidh engages the supporting Bondi unit but the Irish champion is fought to a stalemate.


The Viking Hirdmen surge forward and land some forceful blows on the Irish warchief driving the man back and scoring some brutal hits upon him. Emboldened by the success of their veteran counterparts the Bondi charge forward chasing down the Irish Curaidh and cut down the man sending a wave of dismay through the nearby Irish units. Sensing a chance to buckle the Irish line further the Viking warchief leads the remaining Hirdmen into combat with the Irish Hearthguard but one of the men manages to survive the onslaught preventing panic from spreading any further though the ranks.













The Irish respond with a devastating hail of javelins into the unit of Bondi responsible for the Curaidh's death catching the warriors completely unprepared leaving only two men on their feet (combination of Eagle Eye, Fir-Bolg and Bansidh Whispers).


 Seeing his front line in tatters the Viking warchief orders an advance from his reserve units to reform the shield wall. The Hirdman push onto the Irish warchief again, but again the man proves himself to possess the true Blood of Kings and they are unable to land a blow on the man and are pushed back.

Seeing the Hirdman slowly reforming a fresh unit of Irish warriors falls upon them and drive them back further, although it is only one man who limps away.

Three waves of Viking warriors charge the Irish warchief but again the man proves impossible to hit and all of them are forced back while the seemingly paragon warrior is again untouched by their weapons and the bodies of his enemies begin to pile at his feet.

Again the deadly Irish javelins fall upon a unit of Bondi, this time the freshly committed reserves who are left with only three men after the brutally devastating attack (another three power combination).

Seeing the tide begin to turn on them the Vikings begin to pull back from the field leaving the seemingly untouchable Irish warchief in possession on the battlefield but knowing that overall he had been outmatched by the Viking force on this day.


It was a great scenario to play, the undying warchiefs simply meant you were more willing to throw them around which made for some pretty exciting combats. Thankfully my one good turn of damage was enough to win me the game seven points to one, though if the battle boards had been kinder to us both who knows how it would have ended up. I think next time we play this scenario I'll have to watch out for the deadly three combination targeting my warchief rather than my warriors though which will make things a lot more interesting.

I haven't made a lot of progress painting wise over the last couple of weeks, but I think I can now safely say were Christmas ready and I've got three weeks off over the holiday period so I'm hoping to make a bit of a dint in the painting queue again from here on out.

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