Saga Battle Report - The Defence of Mapingaham

Time for something a little different this time, as my good friend Gadge, (of the 'Tales from the Maelstrom' blog) came over today to teach me the new version of Saga, which I bought (and made a bunch of scenery for!) last year but haven't had chance to actually have a game yet.

Because of this, I speed-painted a six point Anglo Saxon warband over a day, yesterday, as you can see here:

Eorl Aethur's warband, the heroic defenders of Mapingaham. 

Whilst they're not hugely accurate as regards models and shield designs, they're not too bad to say a: I made the army from models I had in the leadpile, b: I didn't really have the time to research shield designs, and c: I painted them in just over a day. If you squint, they're not too bad.

Anyway, if you want to see and read more of the Eorl's defence of the village of Mapingaham, it's after the break...




Firstly, a few close ups of the Anglo Saxons. Here's the Eorl Aethur and his two units of Hearthguard:

Eorl Aethur and his Hearthguard

Next up is two units of Warriors:

Two units of Anglo Saxon Warriors, the 'Select Fyrd'.

A unit of Levies with spears and shields:

Classic Anglo Saxon Warriors with spear and Shield, part of the 'Great Fyrd'

And finally, another unit of Levies, this time armed with bows:

Levy Bowmen of the 'Great Fyrd'.

The Game was a straightforward clash in a settlement, the midlands village of Mapingaham. Both units lined up at the edge of the table and headed in. The Eorl Aethur and his warband were attempting to repel the Norman invaders from his territory.


After some manoeuvring, (and some failed attempts at volley fire from the Norman archers) the action starts here. Anglo Saxon Levy archers prepare to defend from a cavalry charge by bravely hiding behind a fence:

Here, the Levies prepare to fire against the exhausted Norman cavalry:

The Hearthguard, supported by Levy spearmen advance on the church, to liberate it from the Norman invaders, while the Eorl Aethur follows closely:

Another view of the advancing Anglo Saxons:

The Normans attempt to run down the Levy archers...

...unsuccessfully, as it turns out. Some devastating dice rolls and battleboard choices sees the Norman hearthguard cavalry wiped out:

The main body of warriors tries to outflank the Norman church defilers:

Whilst the Hearthguard suffer huge casualties at the hands of long distance volley fire from the Norman archers and attacks from the Norman warriors:

The warriors head towards the church, while the Levies advance along the old Roman road:

And another view:

The Anglo Saxon warriors, diverted to fend off Norman warriors advancing up the Roman road into the village, fight a pitched battle:

The Normans see themselves pushed back down the road by the ferocious attacks, and the sheer force of Anglo Saxon numbers:

The levy spearmen found themselves pinned down by Norman crossbowmen:

And another view:

The Norman warriors continued to be pushed out of the village by the Anglo Saxon warriors:

The levy spearmen advance on the Norman warriors holed up in the churchyard, determined to avenge their Hearthguard brethren...

...while the Anglo Saxon warriors swarm the mounted Norman lord, beating his vast experience with sheer force of numbers:

The warriors celebrate, having slain the Norman Lord:

The Norman church defenders suffer huge casualties while wiping out the levy spearmen:

"Lads, they're over here! Lads? Lads..." The lone Norman realises he's outnumbered in the centre of a hostile village, before being unceremoniously executed.

Overall, the game started off badly for the Normans, a few disastrous sets of dice rolls rendered their early attacks futile. A battle for attrition in the centre of the board was eventually broken by the the Anglo Saxons swarming the Norman warlord and killing him. Once he was dead, the Anglo Saxons were able to triumph, although they suffered heavy casualties in the process.

The village of Mapingaham and Eorl Aethur remain free of the Norman yoke of oppression, at least for the time being!

So, I actually won my first game of Saga! All in all, I really enjoyed it, the battle board concept in particular seemed to work really well, giving a degree of tactics and difference to what in essence are all near-identical unit types at that time period. I've got a few more suitable Anglo Saxon models that I'd like to get painted up to give maybe an 8-10 point army, but I've also got a whole load of Viking models I was going to use for a Norse army, but might co-opt some of them for Saga.

Right, back to casting cobblestones (again!)