The Saga of NagoyaHammer - A Saga Painting Log
Posted: Mon Aug 17, 2020 10:20 pm
A few weeks back, I looked at a variety of fantasy wargames and gave my opinion about each of them. (Here, in case you missed it). The game that really stood out for me was Saga: Age of Magic, so much so that I went out and bought a copy. It helps that I already own the core Saga rulebook and scenario book that I'll need to fully make use of it.
Book in hand, I set about going through the large piles of fantasy minis in my hobby room to see if I could build any warbands for the game. As it transpires, I can! I've managed to grab enough bits and pieces to allow me to build several warbands in fact.
I also have the Age of Vikings and Age of Crusades supplements along with minis for appropriate warbands for those eras. So I guess I really need to do something with all these minis, which is why I've started this hobby log. My aim is to paint up units for each of the warbands as the mood takes me, bouncing between projects like a hobby butterfly with attention deficit disorder, until such time as something else distracts me even more.
As an introductory post, I guess it would be helpful for people to have a bit of background into the game itself and what it entails. Of course, rather than read through my gibberish, there are a few blogs, youtube videos and the like you can turn to instead. Otherwise, read on.
Saga is primarily a semi-historical (except for Age of Magic, obviously) skirmish game based around the idea of Lords/Jarls/Dukes etc leading their entourage against similar forces. These could represent raids, duels, ambushes and other small scale actions. A standard game is played on a 3' by 4' board and each side will have somewhere around 50 minis in play.
Saga units usually come in one of three varieties. Levies (untrained peasants), Warriors (trained soldiers) and Hearthguard (elite fighters). Age of Magic introduces a lot of new unit types such as Monsters and War Machines.
To differentiate between the two mobs of armoured warriors squaring off on the battlefield, each faction in the game has access to a Battle Board. Each faction's board has a set of unique abilities that the player can use to make his units behave differently from their opponent's. Each unit generates Saga Dice (you can just use d6 if you like), which are rolled at the start of your turn. These can be used to activate units OR activate faction abilities. Part of the game is managing your resources to get the most from your dice.
Building a warband is very simple. Each warband starts with a Warlord for free and then has 6 points in an average game, (8 in Age of Magic), to spend on units. 1 point buys you 4 Hearthguards, 8 Warriors or 12 Levies. Before the game begins you can shuffle your models around a little so long as units have between 4 and 12 models, and are all of the same type.
Some factions have access to Mercenaries, Legendary Heroes (e.g William the Conqueror, Saladin, etc) and special equipment (banners etc).
So, my aim with this hobby log is to paint up additions for each of my forces in 1 point increments, slowly growing each warband to a playable level.
Book in hand, I set about going through the large piles of fantasy minis in my hobby room to see if I could build any warbands for the game. As it transpires, I can! I've managed to grab enough bits and pieces to allow me to build several warbands in fact.
I also have the Age of Vikings and Age of Crusades supplements along with minis for appropriate warbands for those eras. So I guess I really need to do something with all these minis, which is why I've started this hobby log. My aim is to paint up units for each of the warbands as the mood takes me, bouncing between projects like a hobby butterfly with attention deficit disorder, until such time as something else distracts me even more.
As an introductory post, I guess it would be helpful for people to have a bit of background into the game itself and what it entails. Of course, rather than read through my gibberish, there are a few blogs, youtube videos and the like you can turn to instead. Otherwise, read on.
Saga is primarily a semi-historical (except for Age of Magic, obviously) skirmish game based around the idea of Lords/Jarls/Dukes etc leading their entourage against similar forces. These could represent raids, duels, ambushes and other small scale actions. A standard game is played on a 3' by 4' board and each side will have somewhere around 50 minis in play.
Saga units usually come in one of three varieties. Levies (untrained peasants), Warriors (trained soldiers) and Hearthguard (elite fighters). Age of Magic introduces a lot of new unit types such as Monsters and War Machines.
To differentiate between the two mobs of armoured warriors squaring off on the battlefield, each faction in the game has access to a Battle Board. Each faction's board has a set of unique abilities that the player can use to make his units behave differently from their opponent's. Each unit generates Saga Dice (you can just use d6 if you like), which are rolled at the start of your turn. These can be used to activate units OR activate faction abilities. Part of the game is managing your resources to get the most from your dice.
Building a warband is very simple. Each warband starts with a Warlord for free and then has 6 points in an average game, (8 in Age of Magic), to spend on units. 1 point buys you 4 Hearthguards, 8 Warriors or 12 Levies. Before the game begins you can shuffle your models around a little so long as units have between 4 and 12 models, and are all of the same type.
Some factions have access to Mercenaries, Legendary Heroes (e.g William the Conqueror, Saladin, etc) and special equipment (banners etc).
So, my aim with this hobby log is to paint up additions for each of my forces in 1 point increments, slowly growing each warband to a playable level.