Age of Magic ~ A SAGA Battle

I've been looking for a fantasy game that I can play solo. I've had a few games of Dragon Rampant and that works pretty well. Because of the activation system it makes it very uncertain who, when & where units are going to activate. So by simply playing each side to their maximum capacity the game is unpredictable.

But I wanted something with a bit more depth. I use to play the original SAGA and I got turned off it when they brought out a 2nd edition. This attitude was due to the expense I had already forked out and the cash I would again need to part with. In Australia the 2nd edition rules plus era book and scenario book would cost in excess of $200. Not a small outlay. But I recently discovered that if I ordered the same stuff from the UK I could get the rules, Age of Magic book, and 3 sets of dice for just over $100AUD. It took a while to get here but now I have it.

So I tried out a solo game...

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Lords of the Wild vs The Hoard

I read the rules. I read Age of Magic. I made up two warbands. I didn't really know what I was doing but this was just a practice game so it was a mater of learning what's what.

Lords of the Wild ~ lead by the Lunalunda (Ogress Moonhead), with Hellebore the Fairy (sorceress), The Green Knights (hearthguard), Faun warriors with spears and bows, a troop of Centaurs (quadruped creatures), an Ent (Monster/Titan). and the Forest Walker (lieutenant ~ the guy with the horns).

The Horde ~  lead by the half orc Grimskrote, with a troop of the order of the bull (hearthguard), two troops of orc warriors, an orc champion, a mountain troll and a troop of cave orgres and an orc shaman (sorcerer).

Grimskrote observes his enemy from atop a low ridge: "Kill them! Hew their flesh and grind their bones."

The Horde got the initiative. I rolled only three Saga Dice for their first turn but they got an extra one due to the rolls. This enabled every unit except for the orcs on the left to move forward.

 Grimskrote's plan was simple: Charge the center and break his enemy.

 "There they are. Slay them and drive them from the sacred woods." The forest folk advanced. I intended for them to use a Saga ability "Ambush," which would have allowed the faun archers to shoot the orcs on the left from a nearby wood. But the wood needed to be empty and the orc shaman had taken up position there, thus thwarting the tactic.

In their second turn the Horde rolled well and managed to get extra S of movement to the charges as well as combat bonuses especially for charging as their first action. In SAGA all measurements are made using pre-determined lengths - Long - Medium - Short - Very Short - or L, M, S, VS.

 So the center charged: The orcs crashed into the faun warriors killing three and driving them back.

The Order of the Bull charged the Green Knights. One figure in each group went down so the Bulls had to fall back S distance.

Grimskrote charged Lunalunda. The combat was one sided with the orc rolling well and the ogress rolling poorly.

The result was that Lunaludra cancelled only one out of 4 hits and that was due to her Resilience (1) rule. The 3 remaining hits were taken on the Green Knights, reducing them to 2 figures. Grimskrotes plan looked to be working.

In retaliation the centaurs, who had moved up in the previous turn charge the mountain troll. The troll went down hard taking all three centaurs with him.

On the right flank the Ent had moved up slowly as did the Grimskrote's ogres. In the centre Hellebore the fairy was threatened by the orcs and Bulls so she pulled back and cast a spell...

The orcs deprived of their preferred target, instead crashed into the faun spears again killing more and throwing them back again.

The ogres, having cleared an area of woods now charged the ent. The great treeman held his own and pushed back the ogres, killing one of their company.

The spell (mentioned before) cast by the fairy Hellebore, brought into existence a small area of rough ground. This was enough to prevent Grimskrote from again charging the ogress Lunalunda. This action proved decisive.
The bull's charged the remaining Green Knights destroying them.

In the previous turn the Forest Walker had shot his bow at Grimskrote. In retaliation, and because he couldn't charge the ogress, the half orc decided to charge the Forest Walker.

Unsurprisingly the fighting went against the forester but when it came to defensive rolls the dice went the other way. The Forest Walker rolled a brace of 5's & 6's and the Half orc rolled 1's and 2's. Too late, I realized, the Horde commander was out of range of his hearthguard and could not transfer any successful hits on to them. Thus Grimskrote was laid low by the Forest Walker. A fatal blow to the Horde.

The initial success of the Horde was now looking precarious. In the center Hellebore positioned herself to cast a Beam of Light spell. It passed through the Bulls and into the orcs in the center. The spell was cast with maximum energy and both troops suffered. This entailed a roll on the Abuse of Power Table which turned out okay for the fairy sorceress. The remaining bulls were finished off by Lunalundra with mighty blows of her club/staff.

The orc shaman, who's main role was to boost the aggressiveness of the troops was now under threat. Using a double activation the Forest Walker moved forward and charged in one quick move that easily slew the shaman.

On the right the mighty tree-man lumbered forward and crushed the ogres before they could regroup in a mighty battle of the giants.

 As he stood over the body of the slain shaman, the Forest Walker failed to notice that the orc champion emerged from the far end of the woods and charged. He was no match for the orc's ferocity (and the two Fatigue tokens he had didn't help) and so he was slain in a one sided contest.

The three remaining orcs in the center huddled together in fear as the great ent lumbered towards them. They put up little fight and were crushed beneath tree-man's heavy tread.

In the end one troop of orcs that had be shot up by the faun bows and the orc champion remained. There was little they could do to prevail so they fled the forest in order to plot revenge.

Hoom homm.

Grrrr...

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Conclusion:

The game worked well. Not everything worked as it should have but I did play both sides to their best ability (well, my version of their best ability!). With the initial couple of turns I thought the Horde had it won. But the loss of the warlord really knocked the wind out of them. 

The ent really was a big hitter and I expected the ogres to stand more of a chance. On the other flank, the mountain troll didn't have armour as good as the ent and was more vulnerably as a result. But his big pool of Aggression Dice is what enabled him to kill all three centaurs in one fell and violent swoop.

All in all, I think this is a better alternative to Dragon Rampant for a similar sized game. But it ain't a big battle game. Maybe it could be scaled up to 10 points or, at the very most, 12 points. But you couldn't go bigger than that unless you went multi-player / multi-warband on each side.

One thing I do need is something better for hearthguard on both sides. I just got some Mantic orcs riding on boars (I don't know what they're actually called) so I've got that part covered. But the Forest folk will be more of a challenge.Maybe the centaurs would be better in the hearthgard roll and some other creatures for the Creature roll.

I already have plans for an undead warband using a bunch of GW undead figures that I picked up cheap last year. All I need to do is add a few extra elements and they'll be ready to go (after I paint them that is).

I can also do several Great Kingdoms warbands so that gives me a bit of variety.

A Bit More Painting

I've been a bit suppressed due to real-life getting in the way of my preferred reality. Nonetheless, I've continued to paint in order to get things done as well as using the time as a meditative exercise.

So what have I achieved?

These guys:

A general/warlord/champion/hero/etc, for my evil doers. This is a Wizkids figure and he's pretty hefty. I think he's supposed to be a half-orc but I'll just use him for whatever I need him to be whenever I want to use him. He originally had a banner in his left hand but it looked stupid so I replaced it with some fantasy spears I had sitting around. His original sword looked okay but it was bent almost into a circle and couldn't be straightened. So I made him a new sword out of a piece of plastcard. It came out okay. Overall I'm pretty happy with him and he'll make a nice warlord/etc...

I did this guy too. He makes up the third of my trio of ogres. This makes a handy unit that can be used for multiple games. I did have a small troll as #3 and it can still stand in if I need a 4th ogre. This is another Reaper Bones (Black) and it's another really nice figure. The three ogre figures I have look great together as a unit.

I also finished the last of the old Grenadier barbarians I got from eM4. These really are great looking figures. They're about 30 years old but they're every bit as good as they were way back then. My friend Chris still has some that I painted in the 90's. I'd like to see how they compare to these ones.

I really like this one. I didn't think I much of him until I painted his banner and then the figure came alive. Even though the banner is a really rough and basic design it looks really nice in the flesh (not quite as neat and tidy as it looks in the pic).

These are two figures that I remember painting 30 odd years ago (using Humbrol enamels!). As I mentioned above: I'd like to see the originals that I did to compare them. I'm pretty sure I've improved a bit since then.

So that's what I've done. I'm hoping to get a solo game played in the next day or so and I'll post a battle report. That nice new orc warlord needs a name and needs to be blooded!

Wing Commander

I needed a suitable commander for my medieval troops to give them a fantasy feel. What better than to include a monstrous, impressive creature with big wings. So, in keeping with the overall Germanic theme of my medieval troops, I created Baron von Bach-Sachenkrach.

So I got a griffin which is yet another nice big monster from Reaper Bones. You just can't go past Bones for big creatures that are affordable and lightweight. The knight is a Perry, War of the Roses mounted man-at-arms. He looks okay. I added the crest on his helmet from another Perry figure - A plastic French Napoleonic Dragoon. His shield is a left over from the Fireforge Teutonic Knights set.

The saddle was a bit of a problem. I just ended up using some greenstuff. I don't know what a griffin saddle should look like so this is what I came up with. It's not great but it is what it is.

I really wanted this creature to stand out but it looked a bit dull. So I added the blue feathers which was just what it needed. The blue really made it go: Ta-Daaaaa! Also I luckily spotted an old sheet of GW Eldar decals in amongst the chaos of my painting desk. Hence the appropriate shield device.

So. all in all... I have a nice fancy commander/hero to give my men-folk a bit of a fantasy flair. 

T'was Brillig and the Slithy Toves...

...Did gyre and gimble in the wabe.
All mimsy were the borogroves,
and the mome raths outgrabe.

Yes, I bought myself a Jabberwock, my son. With jaws that bite and claws that catch. This is a Reaper Bones figure and it looks lovely. But I have to say that it would have been better produced using the harder Black Bones material. It stands on one skinny leg and its tail and these can't support its weight. As a result it constantly wants to bend towards the ground because the white Bones material just isn't strong enough.

So, I tried a few things which didn't work and eventually decided to drill into one leg and drive a piece of brass rod into it. I then drilled a notch into the mdf base and glued the rod in place. Then I used Miliput and Greenstuff to build a tree stump around the brass rod.

He came out very nicely and he'll join one of my fantasy armies. I have a couple of figures with long spears that would look good as handlers so he might end up as a fantastic element to go with my medieval troops and give them a more fantasy feel.

A Troll, a Champion and Some Elves

I've been doing a bit more painting this week. I'm trying to get some of the bigger figures that I have waiting on the painting tables as well as getting some more elves ready for battle. Not that it makes much of a dent in the model-pile. But they do add to the numbers of troops waiting for another battle.

"Puny humans." Troll SMASH!

First is this ugly fellow. He's big and standing at about 3" (7.5cm).  I used him recently in a game and, as you can see in the above photo, he makes a pretty intimidating presence when on the table. The figure is yet another Reaper Black Bones. It's a good solid and hefty figure and if it was made in lead he'd weigh a ton and I could use him for doing a workout. I added the mushrooms and also some flock on his shoulders & back to make him look a bit more organic, as if he'd been sleeping under a bridge waiting for unsuspecting travelers.

I'm not sure what this figure is supposed to be. As I've been slowly building fantasy armies, I thought I might create separate Elf and Faerie Folk armies. This isn't anything definite but it's good enough a reason for me to collect more things and do some odd stuff. 

Anyway... this guy will be a champion or a general or a captain or something. For the moment I'm calling him the Lord of the Forest. He's another Reaper Bones figure. He's okay but I think I'd prefer the metal version. As you can see he came out okay but I just can't seem to straighten that sword handle. Also, I don't know what that weapon in his hand is supposed to be. Initially  I thought it was a melee weapon but I now think it's a bow. 

And last but not least is a new regiment of elves. These ones have a different paint job to my previous ones. I like the idea of different noble houses having their individual panoply. These guys are from Oathmark. I made the captain a few weeks back and posted on here. I thought I'd give him his own regiment. The shield motifs are just printed on paper. they're cut out and stuck on and varnished over the top. Not great but they look okay for the moment.

 And here they are without their captain.

And that's it for now. But I do have another large model that I've just finished and waiting for some final little details. I'll post some photo's soon.

Farewell dear reader.

A Battle in the Forest

Once again I'm locked up in Melbourne which has been deemed Plague Capital of Australia. Oh well, what can I do?

I can have a battle in my garage. That's what I can do!

The army of the Erlking: being bright eyed elves and other faerie folk defending their realm from a force of evil orcs, ogres and werewolves lead by the arch werewolf: Black Maugwr himself.

By the banks of the swift river Silverwash in an open dell stands a sacred she-oak of ancient lineage and mystical virtue. The last survivor of a once great grove. Black Maugwr, that spirit of the vilest wickedness, craved only two things: The corruption of the spirit and the power to bring about that corruption. On this day Black Maugwr bent his malice to the destruction of the ancient she-oak for no better reason than destruction itself.

But nothing happens in the the Erlking's realm that is not reported to the Erlking's ears. And hearing of this venture into his lands he sent forth elves, fauns and centaurs led by The Rosy Knight and the dragon Bluefang, along with the fairy Hellebore and the Daoine Sidhe.

Wearing the shape of a great werewolf, Black Maugwr looks with contempt at the forces arrayed before him. They will die this day and the life-magic of the old tree will be devoured by nightfall.

 On the flank faun scouts enter the woods and prepare to hold their ground against the enemy.

On the opposite flank on the banks of the Silverwash a band of ferocious werewolves dash forward full of the wild killing lust.

 Orcish scouts enter the forest to be met with the sharp arrows of the fauns.

Black Maugwr's ogres make straight for the she-oak and start swinging their axes and clubs, gashing the tough old bark.

The werewolves make their way towards a company of elfin archers only to be met by Bluefang and the Rosy Knight. They are driven back scorched by the dragons' fire and pierced by the knights' lance.

The elves cannot let the ogres continue with their hacking and charge forth with their spears leveled. The ogres are made of hard stuff but the elfin spears hurl them back leaving one of their number dead in the grass. But Black Maugwr, himself charges into the elfin ranks driving them back with great carnage.

The centaurs charge into the great wolf form but they are no match for a creature of such malice and evil and are themselves forced to retreat.

With the Daeine Sidhe holding back the werewolves with their spells The Rosy Knight prepares to duel with the great black wolf.

The ogres, now with the blood rage surging through their veins, charge another band of elfin spears. But their captain is prepared. With spears set and shields locked they stand solid against the ogres. Another dies and the last of the hulking creatures runs from the field bleeding from a dozen wounds.

 Before dragon, knight and wolf can duel a band of orcs moves up distracting both dragon and rider.

In the woods the orcs have tried to penetrate and have been pushed back. A second attempt to oust the fauns also fails but not before the second band of orcish scouts shoot their poisoned darts at the centaurs from the cover of the woods driving the sylvan cavalry from the field of battle.

With the Rosy Knight distracted the orcs drive froward towards the dragon but as they get close Bluefang lets forth a roar and a blast of blue fire that sends the orcs running.

In the center, Black Maugwr had his orcs charge the elfin spears who stood fast and throwing the orcs back. But they could not abide the assault of the great wolf and fled in terror. But the fight was not all one sided and Black Maugwr was sorely wounded and stood panting amongst the bodies of the slain. Seeing the foe worsted the captain of the elfin archers ordered a volley that brought down the great black wolf. With a great cry of despair Black Maugwr fell as an oily black smoke rose from the fallen creatures' carcass and took the the air.

With their captain gone the orcs and their remaining allies fled. Why should they stay to die when their mighty captain was no longer alive to scourge their hides.

And so the day was won. The danger had passed and the she-oak still stood: wounded but still alive. But where was the corpse of the black wolf? Where the great body fell only grass, blackened and turned to ash by the spilling of it's blood remained.

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This was just a spur of the moment solo game using Dragon Rampant. I just wanted to set things up and put figures on the table. I already had the lists worked out from a couple of month ago. I decided to treat the she-oak as a unit of Elite Foot (armour 4 with 6 hits). It had no fighting ability just the toughness that comes with age. The ogres managed to inflict 2 wounds.

I've been thinking of creating a short campaign for a bit of narrative fun and to give some meaning to a few solo games. I might have a look online to see if I can find something ready made.

I hope you enjoyed it.
Cheers.

Knights and Wolves

This week I decided to paint some knights. I really wanted some elfin knights but every where I looked I found that I was going to have to take out a second mortgage to pay for them. Instead of paying a ridiculous amount of money for half a dozen mounted figures I decided to get a box of Perry plastic Hundred Years War knights and decided that a nice paint job will make them look suitably elfish.

Originally, I was going to paint them all different colours. I was reading The Many Coloured Land (again after a long time) and I really like the description of the glowing coloured Tanu knights and I thought I'd paint them like that. I put the figures together and put them aside. I picked them up again a few days back and decided to paint them green to keep them in line with my Elfland / Faerie theme. They came out okay and they look enough like faerie knights for my taste.

I also got a bunch of wolf packs from Reaper. I could only get three packs for nine figures but I really want to make a unit of a dozen. They were pretty easy to paint and they look nice. I just need to get my hands on another pack to bring them up to speed.

I made a couple of small terrain pieces to go with my Faerie theme. Just a couple of pieces of scrap foam mounted on some old cd's. Cheap and easy but they look nice enough.