Saga - getting some training (Vikings)

If you look back at my Saga games, I'm running a 1 and 12 record. Yep, I've won 1 big game since we started playing in December of 2013. I need to get better at it so I thought about it some and asked Spencer for some help. I told him what I thought my problems were and he also advised me on his opinions and we decided to have a night were we both played Viking factions and he'd be able to critique and advise me even better.

This is less about my ego and winning. I just want to be up to the challenge in my group and be a good player. It'll make us all better. Plus, we plan to enter some tournaments in the future and get rich and all the glory and stuff. It's hard to do that if you suck hahaha!

Friday came and we set up.

First game was a 4 point Viking vs. Viking, Clash of the Warlords rules, standard terrain. My Faction:
Warlord
Berserkers x4
Hirdmen x4
Warrior x8
Warrior x8

Spencer's Vikings:

Warlord

Hird x8

Warrior x8

Warrior x8

Spencer went first and maneuvered within striking distance. On my turn I went defensive and hoped for the best leaving some Saga dice on some Saga board abilities that would give me extra attack dice to use defensively. 

Spencer assesses his Saga dice roll and allocated them to his board.

He moves forward and I, cautiously counter one "activation" away and go defensive. 

I make a mistake and leave my Warlord open to attack.

 Spencer shifts his center of Hirdmen (8 of them) AND his Warlord to my Warriors on my right flank. He rolls something like 24 dice, he admits it's the most he's ever rolled, and kills my 8 warriors to the last man. This also hands out fatigue to my other nearby units.

Unfortunately he leaves his unit open and I counter with my infamous Val'Serkers! I was able to stack my Saga board with Ullr, an ability that allows one to re-roll all dice that missed in the attack.

My 4 Val'Serkers were going up against 7 of Spencer's Hirdmen. Numbers were in his favor but 'Serkers roll an incredible amount of dice. Frankly, this situation are exactly what Berserkers are designed for. The Ullr ability was a given. I saved another board ability to use for a second attack or defense in case the Val'Serkers failed. I also used up the 2 fatigue on his Hirdmen to lower his armor to 4 and raise mine to 4.

There the ladies are on the left, closing on the enemy Vikings that just killed all the Warriors on the right flank.

The total attack dice for my Val'Serkers was a base 16 but I played Ullr so I was able to re-roll my misses. Result was:

(roll 1) 7 hits

(roll 2) 4 more hits

for 11 total hits. 

Spencer's attack roll resulted in some hits and I was able to get away with only losing 2 Val'Serkers. He lost all his 7 Hirdmen leaving his Warlord all alone  on my extreme right flank. 

I activated my Warlord for free using "Determination" and charged his Warlord. My Warlord's 4 Hirdmen followed and they all attacked the enemy Warlord and killed him ending this game. I used another Saga ability to increase the attack dice.

We discussed what happened. Spencer did not expect me to open my turn with an attack from my Val'Serkers that would wipe out his very strong Hirdmen. Quite frankly I would not advise that either but I'm the one that loses almost all games. I also slowed down a bit and, slightly subconsciously, had planned a multi-waved attack that could quickly shift to a multi-waved defense in case things went wrong.

As a matter of fact Spencer noticed immediately, being his first time playing Vikings, that this is what Vikings needed most. Be able to shift a multi-pronged attack into a plan B or plan C even. On top of that  he noticed I'd never played Ullr (re-roll missed attacks) before. Ullr ability needs a common and uncommon dice to activate, not hard to get... no need for a rare "Sig" rune to activate. in  his opinion, and now mine, this should be on the board at all times. Re-rolling misses is KIND OF A BIG DEAL.

I don't know math very well but here is my "mathamatized" version of how important it is to be able to re-roll failed attack rolls:

You roll 16 die that "hit" on a 4, 5, or 6. That's like 50% chance or "8 hits".

This means 8 misses. You get to re-roll those 8 die that maybe get that same 50%... so 4 more hits.

All said and done 12 hits off 16 die.

I also kept my units tight around my Warlord. This did not come into play all the time but when it did come into play, as some abilities are dependent on distance from the Warlord, it was pretty dang handy. In hindsight Spencer should have attacked my Warlord directly when I left him open. Even if he did not kill my Warlord the collateral damage would have been good.

GAME 2!!

Pretty much the same faction builds as above except Spencer added some Berserkers.

Spencer's Vikings.

My Vikings.

Spencer started again and doubled moved his Vikings right up within one move from my gang. His Berserkers climbed the rocky hill in the middle of the field to make a dramatic entrance. And they did just that!

I pulled a classic Anglo-Dane move (without the off board support) and wheeled to my left to greet the screaming horde coming down upon us.

Spencer's Berserkers leapt off the rock hill, though delayed one activation by my use of his fatigue. They hit hard and fast but were destroyed by my warriors on my right (again) and 2 of my doughty shield-men survived. I had banked some bonus attack dice so was able to bring that to bear as well as some of the Berserker's fatigue.

The fighting began in earnest and was back and fourth for a bit until we realized that we were in the top of the last round and I was ahead in points by 1. I was down to my Warlord, 4 Hirdmen, and 4 Warriors while Spencer had his Warlord and 8 Warriors left. He attacked to get some points but it did not come through. I spent my last move in the bottom of the last round  doing what was utterly non-Viking... I backed off knowing I was still up by one point.

 

Again, Ullr was a serious player when it came to abilities to use. Spencer used it too. 

Though more of a training session than a game session, as we paused a few times to discuss tactics and plausibilities, I felt good in 2 "wins". Now to see if I can do it for real in my next game.

Coming down the pipe will be a Ragnar Lothbrok based unit as well as Harald Hardrada and 12 Varangians. THEN I get to figure out what is deemed one of the more difficult factions, The Normans.

Saga last Saturday - Vikings vs. Anglo-Danes

Not Spencer's Anglo-Danes but Kyle's Anglo-Danes. We reserved a table at Guardian Games and played 2 games last Saturday, keeping us out of the 90+ degree weather.

First game was a 6 pointer (Clash of Warlords), my Vikings were:
Warlord
Hird x4
Hird x4
Warriror x12
Warrior x12
Levy x12

Kyle's Anglo-Danes were:
Warlord
Huscarls (axes) x4
Huscarls x8
Warrior x8
Warrior x8
Levy (slingers) x12

ADs went first and immediately sent slingers to a center cover point to take cover and proovide some screening while AD Huscarls and Warriors on the my left flank shifted to center. AD Warlord and his retinue stayed to anchor the right flank. 

Vikings moved enmasse. Old Men with Bows tried to take the center for cover but AD used an ability to cancel that move. V Warlord, Hirdmen, and Warriors did move forward but not very far.

My big viking strategy was to keep all units in a big "pod" around my Warlord so as to take advantage of a few abilities that drank up fatigue and to activate units with "we obey" as much as possible since the ADs have abilities to lay down fatigue at random and cancel activations. On a tactical level it was a great plan. On a strategic level? Not so much.

ADs countered and came up my left flank putting a Huscarl unit of 8 behind the fence. AD warlord and his retinue anchored in the trees.

I attacked the Huscarls behind the defensive fence with a warrior unit of 12 only to be decimated. The 2 survivors of that 12 Viking warrior unit retreated to the Levy that was consistently frozen by AD board abilities.

AD crept forward more but left a small hole I could get my Warlord and Hirdmen through to attack his Warlord and Warriors hiding in the trees. Alas, another AD ability and my own mistake left my Warlord alone deep behind enemy lines.

Viking Warlord is WAAAYYYY up there in the trees, all the rest of the Vikings are pretty much close to where they started.

There he is, all by his brave little self, up against the Anglo-Dane Warlord and his 8 warriors.

The Viking Warlord attacked the Anglo-Dane Warlord and lost with no damage but had to retreat to the fence. AD Warlord countered bringing his Warriors along and the game ended there.

The second game was a 4 pointer. Same scenario (Clash of Warlords).

Vikings:

Warlord

Val'Serkers x4

Hirdmen x4

Warrior x8

Warrior x8

Anglo-Danes:

Warlord

Huscarls x4

Huscarls x4

Warrior x8

Warrior x8

I thought to experiment a bit and "go defensive" with my Vikings on a hill and that ended in a slow slaughter for my Vikings.

Initial rush.

On the hill waiting for the Anglo-Danes.

The Anglo-Danes were just able to move in and pick the Vikings apart over 3 turns leaving me with a last stand with my Val'Serkers, 5 exhausted Warriors, and an exhausted Warlord.

I'm taking notes as I consistently lose Saga games. This Friday Spencer and I will both be playing Viking factions and he's going to help me figure out my game. I am having issues figuring out "order" of my turn and how to properly use my resources. I hope to become a better player soon. I refuse to blame the dice.

Savage Worlds - War of the Dead

Continuing my RPG group's theme of playing in campaigns with "X of the Y" in it (War of the Dead, Rise of the Runelords, Wrath of the Righteous) we started our new Savage Worlds campaign yesterday headed up by GM Brandon, who also runs Rise of the Runelords.

War of the Dead is a zombie apocalypse game. Some of the "table contract" is:
Realism but less rape-y.
Horror.
In this world zombies are not a known phenomenon, so we don't know what they are, how they die, or how they become... yet.
We aren't starting off as a spec ops team nor do we have bug out bags, ARs, ammo, and a souped up survival truck.

The rule system, Savage Worlds, is really basic and intuitive (in my opinion). Built for fast and quick action resolutions and open ended enough for cinematic description - both a pro and a con depending on what part of the creative scale you are on. The creators are also noted for creating Deadlands in the late 90s which is the Father of the SW system.

Our heroes:
Benjamin "BeeBee" Booya - Second String Nose Tackle for the Baltimore Ravens. (me, Gabe)
Ninon - Owner of a hip NY restaurant and young chef, she is very hip and stylish too. (Gretchen)
Dr. Brennan - PHD in research from Yale, she's our scientist that will figure stuff out. (Karen)
Randy Hunt - 7 time world champion of the World Championship Competitive Logging Championship of the World. (Jason, reprising a character he played in a D20 Modern ZPAW campaign I ran years ago)

An OCD player's set up (me). Dice, poker chips = "bennies", 6 of spades card is initiative order, laminated quick reference/cheat cheat for actions. Minis in the background.

The group were all on a maiden voyage of a fancy cruise ship called The Pinnacle (Pinnacle is the name of the company that puts out Savage Worlds... get it?) and were forced together as a team while a disease outbreak takes over the trip.

This adventure can seem pretty action-y but there is also a tinge of horror, we will be playing out emotional impacts of loss of loved-ones and such. For instance BeeBee's Mother and Sister are also on board the ship with him so he will presumably be losing them in some horrible way thus developing the character.

Here's some poor iPhone pics of the action that took place:

I did a lot of the minis - Zombies are Wargames Factory zombies I put up last week and are deserving of a tutorial. "Hero" and "NPC" figs are WF male and female Apocalypse Survivors series and some rebased Hero Clicks. There is also one Reaper and one Hasslefree in there.

Miniatures, Old Glory and the Old Glory Army

A few months ago Spencer and I decided we'd try joining the Old Glory Army at Old Glory Miniatures. It's a club membership that you pay $50 and then you get 40% of all orders for the next year. We will be ordering a pack of minis each every month for the next year.

Sounds like a great way to build up a wargaming stock!

One of the main issues with them, though, is the lack of decent photos on their website of the minis you want to order. Many people in the community say they use google to search for images of specific models and see what they put up on the net. To facilitate that and do my due diligence to help, here are some primed only pics of what I have ordered so far:

Octopons FF-07  --  I got these as general tentacled bad guys mostly for RPGing. Primed in Army Painter Uniform Gray. The one on the left is a leader and there are 3 of the ones on the right per pack.

Space Mercenaries #4 BMM-117  --  This was the free pack you get when you first join. Their p[icture on the OG web site is actually pretty good. You get 16 of these. I got them for use as general modern-future soldiers/police types. Primed in AP Army Green.

Norman Heavy Infantry DA-15  -- Good general soldiers in chainmail, helmets, spears and shields. Two "Sargent" types with sword, two banner bearers, two wounded, and 30 spearmen in 4-5 poses. These primed in AP Platemail Metal. Shields are seperate (in pack, you just glue them on).

GMing Part 1 - Players want to have fun.

I'm going to do some posts about my experience in GMing - NOTE - not advice, how to, or anything like that. Just stuff  I did that worked and did not work.

First, my experience:
Been RPGing (mainly Dungeon and Dragons) since 1979 in varying degrees of fun to not-fun.
DMed 2 long running campaigns in 3ed and 3.5ed. 7 years and 5 years respectively.
Gmed many shorter campaigns in various systems in varying degrees of failure to success.
I am currently not GMing any games, and quite enjoying not having the responsibility.

Gary Gygax

Next some definitions:
GM = Game Master. You are running the game, playing NPCs and opponents, making the world spin.
DM = Dungeon Master. See above but for the specific game Dungeons and Dragons.

My current philosophy in GMing is "it's the player's game". That is key to me. I'm GMing for them, thus in service to them. I aim to pose a challenge but not ruin the fun. This is my "social contract" to them. The group I RP with are all adults with educations, jobs, businesses to run, kids, bills, shit like that. Not a lot of time so making time for gaming is a bit more trying than when we were kids. "It's just a game" loses it's intent and becomes "This is also my social time and a date with my partner." It is paramount to have a social contract and take it seriously.

Know what you are doing and have the right materials.
Focus on gaming.
The key is fun and gaming.
Be on time and follow the schedule.
**At a minutiae level... the players are a team and not chaotic buddy screwing. If there is a mutual goal, that is the group's goal.

I came up in the Old School, GM is against the Players. This was how it just played out all the time. GM was "god" while the Players bowed down to that. Some rule books specifically stated that. The players must play up to the mood of the GM and all that bullshit. It's how I did it for years. "Don't anger me... meh meh meh!".

Long story short that was log-jamming long-term campaigns. It was causing friends to argue. People would get mad.

I let my ego go and decided to work on not being in charge of everything and only in charge of making sure we had fun within the "box" of the campaign being run. A lot of changes had to be made and it was painful due to old habits.

I started making changes in play slowly. I started asking what my players wanted loot-wise and would give it to them in game. I'd make some changes in pre-written adventures or home brew my own that got them those things.

I started to gauge my players. Notice when and how they were happy and having fun. I put them in those situations. When in doubt, go in favor of the players.

I started fudging die rolls in player favor in accordance with the above. Subtly, but fudging none-the-less. If your dice are hot it can crush your players and their characters. You'll notice this when they get quiet or bitchy. Ease up, start missing. Unless killing them fits in with the story don't kill them. The GM is there to further the storyline, not end it. Sometimes the player's roll cold, fail them forward not to death.

Rules questions? Favor the player and figure out RAW later.

It helps to know the rules. You've just got to know them well enough to make decent on the spot decisions. Making up mechanics on the fly will just lead to problems down the road with consistency and balance (important in games such as 3.x D&D or Pathfinder) and fairness. NOT EVERY RULE now, just the basics.

Trust is also a major factor and should be a given in any social contract. It is 2 way there, player trust and GM trust.

Pathfinder, Wrath of the Righteous - latest session

Last Sunday the group got together and we played Wrath of the Righteous the adventure path from Paizo. We've been at it for about 9 months there (??).

Currently the group is:
Captain Aaron Marcovina - Paladin 7 (Epic)
Kal - Urban Barbarian 7 (Epic)
Brother Overhult - Dwarven Cleric of Cayden Cailean 7 (Epic)
Kali - Sorceress 7 (Epic)

Yours truly plays the paladin... a paladin I purposefully "gimped" in that I did not maximize him except for a decent charisma score (unlike my paladin in the Rise of the Runelords campaign). He's a "flag officer" over being a "field officer". Son of General Marcovina, Aaron was the younest of 3 sons. He was good at riding and being smart but not a good "warrior" per se. All sons were loved equally though.

Aaron was on patrol 6 months before the AP started, this takes place near the World Wound (demons and stuff) and he and his brothers' were ambushed. Aaron survived but almost lost his leg. His brothers perished. Fearing losing the whole legacy General Marcovina pulled Aaron form field duty while Aaron healed. He lost a lot of flexibility in his leg though it was not lost (Dex score of 8). His injuries were severe enough that a lot of his health was lost too (Con 9). He kept some of his strength though (Str 14) and was as wise and smart as ever (Wis 14, Int 12). His family loved him and he kind of became a hero that inspired the paladins of the area (Cha 16). He was given a seat in the Church of Iomedea's war council.

The impetus to the AP is a huge event (no spoilers) and after it's resolution Aaron became a captain as he was one of the few left to be a captain. Reluctantly he took the job.

We are using Epic rules, thus we get Epic Tiers. Some don't like Epic as it just seems to be "more powers" but I think Paizo did a good job to give it flavor and context to edge it away from that. It's like a template that allows you to do more with already existing abilities of your character. They did a great job at quantifying a fantasy "super hero" a la Perseus, Achilles, Conan, and the ilk (all, IMO, Epic). It levels via events or milestones - you defeated your first Epic monster, you build a church, you make an evil wizard repent, you crush a whole city, you destroy an artifact... stuff like that. It's up to the GM.

Right now our group - The First Company of the Fifth Crusade - is moving north to retake an important town closer to the World Wound. Mass Combat rules are also involved, a simple affair really. We have 100 heavy cavalry and supporters, a quarter of which are actual paladins. Our enemies were a horde of ghouls in a graveyard, human demonic cultists and a company of teiflings dug into a suburb of the city, and some tieflings and beefier opponents (literally, demonic bulls!) guarding a key bridge.

We destroyed the ghouls and teiflings, not one casualty. We offered parley and quarter to the human cultist mercenaries, they attacked us in turn and we killed them all. Very few resources were expended. This left us enough to go for that bridge. We made a great plan and stuck to it and took that bridge.

Then the real fight came, The Beast. No spoilers but lets just say this thing almost killed us, our first Epic monster. One of it's powers? Gets to go 2 times in one round. If it weren't for Captain Aaron's Epic powers he'd be dead.

Suffice to say we won the day and secured that bridge.