Saga - Vikings Vs. Welsh - Battle of Mead Hall Ford

Got a game in last Friday with Spencer and his Welsh. Battle of the Fords Scenario, 6 points each.

Me and my Vanilla Vikings:
Warlord - Jarl Ulf Whitehair and a Bard
x12 Hearthguard unit (and a Bannerman)
x10 Warriors
x6 Warriors
x6 Levy
x6 Levy

Spencer and his Welsh... the venerable, many wins having, Welsh:
Warlord and a Bard
x12 Mounted Hearthguard
x10 Warrior
x10 Warrior
x4 Warrior

The picture is a view from my side. Left bridge are my Warlord and Bard, 6 Levy, 10 warriors, and 6 warriors. On the right are 6 Levy and 12 Hearthguard

Spencer had his Welsh set up in 2 Warrior units per bridge and the bulk of his forces behind the long house.

The Fluff:
Our Vikings went out to confront the Welsh sheep thieves BUT IT WAS A TRICK! They took the Mead Hall and would not give it back while the Vikings were gone.  Now they are back and would like to have mead in their hall!

We rolled to see who would go first and it was I.

My very first move was to push my Hearthguard and their Levy screen across the bridge on the right and get into a big fight. Immediately the Welsh spent any fatigue I earned to slow my unit's movements of M to S. This would be the story for the first 4 rounds.

On the left I had my Warlord and Bard use the heck out of the 2 Determination rule (as provided by the Bard). My big strategy was for them to hold the left bridge.

As a matter of fact my whole strategy was a hammer and anvil. The anvil would be Ulf Whitebeard and his Warriors and Bard. The Hearthguard x12 would be the hammer. I could concentrate Saga Dice activations on the charge on the right (with Banner to help mitigate fatigue on top of Viking Fatigue Drinking abilities) and Warlord/Bard combo would net all the activations I needed on the left.

As usual it didn't work out perfectly like that. The Welsh came up my left bridge really hard and fast and concentrated. On top of that I was getting slowed by both opponent spending of my fatigue to slow as as mentioned above and slippery Welsh abilities. I could not, in turn, slow the Welsh as they played Children of the Land every turn not allowing anything to slow them.

Setting up defense on the left bridge.

Moving across on the right and getting slowed as the Welsh retreated with haste.

Blood started getting let by round 3. Welsh were committed to blasting me on my left and were doing a great job of it. My Hammer on the right frozen as I was now on the ropes and using Saga Dice to support my defense on the left.

For a very long time, where my Hammer and screen of Old Men with Bows camped. Scoring, yes, but fighting, no.

All the action of the Vikings on the left. This was my last stand before the Welsh cavalry came across and left me with very little left.

By the bottom of round 4 Spencer could have finished it but his Saga Dice were not supporting the killing of my remaining Ulf Whitebeard, his Bard, and a loan Warrior - generating 4 of the 5 Saga Dice I was rolling per round.

Top of round 5 I got a good roll of Saga dice. 5 dice and 4 came up rare. During my orders phase I traded a rare for 2 more dice and ended up with a full board.  This was my only chance and I dedicated enough dice for activations of my Hammer. They closed and hit the first Welsh Warrior group behind the Mead Hall killing them and dropping fatigue on the close-by Warlord and 10 Warrior unit.

I expected the Welsh to run but they turned and attacked with javelins and arrayed themselves into a defensive position giving  the Vikings another chance to take back our Mead Hall on the river.

Round 6 saw an average roll of Saga dice but it was enough! The Vikings got into the Welsh shield wall and pushed hard. Killed the 10 Welsh and then turned to face the Warlord and kill him! There was still some skirmishing and spear crossing but in the end the Vikings won the day.

Those pesky Welsh and our brutal winning ceremony!

The Welsh are pretty legendary in this game. Really hard to beat and a favored faction in Saga. There's not much denying that. But, if you can get up into their faces, you can pull a win off them.

Banners? I have figures to use and the rule set. I've never used it though. With the nerfing of Banner rules last year they seem kind of useless really. Might as well go back to a figure in the unit that can generate some attack dice.

Terrain Note: These pictures are taken at Spencer's table in his basement. He's really worked hard to get an area dedicated to war gaming set up and I think my pictures really show how his work has paid off.

Truth About Portland II - Oh those darn hipsters!

Yep, Hipsters. A lot of people really hate them hipsters. What's funny is a lot of people don't even know what one is.

Portland does, truly, have a good population of hipsters. It's so ubiquitous and "normal" now that I, personally, have trouble telling the difference between a real one and a fashion one - not that I try to or even care. People are going to do what they want to do and that's OK. Who am I to try to direct or burn calories over that?

As a matter of fact I know quite a few and am friends with a bunch of people that others would denote as a "hipster". Some of them even do the things that haters say hipsters do! OhMyGod! I've even been denoted as one myself... then I remind them I'm too fat and old to be a hipster.

I'm not going to go on about what hipsters do or are. Not my place nor my interest. What I am going to do here is type out some things that "hipsters" have done in Portland that I have received joy from or love. Some of these things will dispel tropes I hope. If not, oh well.

1) Meat
You know what delicacy I love? One of those weird ones that others may find gross but I love because I grew up eating traditional Thai food made by my Thai Mother (Juke Martin - RIP) and am not adverse to "parts"? Roasted beef marrow on a bit of toast.

Here, in hipster-haven liberal-ass hippy-infested Portland, OR I can go to a few restaurants and order this. Is it Applebees? Outback? Sizzler? Even Ruth's Crisp? Nope. All are independently owned restaurants that source locally from boutique farmers. I'm sure the bull was named too and his marrow was delicious. Did some cattle-barons invade and foist this dish upon us? Nope. Hipster chefs did. Hipster chefs and their heavily Hispanic staff.

It was hipster-y farmers that bought (or leased) land and brought us farm-fresh ingredients too. Before that it was the typical farmers but it was the young hipsters that broke that urban-rural wall and got us good produce and meat in our indy restaurants. Created a whole new business atmosphere that was, as per media sources, on the brink of collapse. <<<I don't know how true that is but all my life I have heard the plight of the farmer.

2) Old Knowledge and Skill
I can take a black smithing class. I actually did last year.
This May I hope to take a weave English Ivy into a basket class with my wife.
I've taken a class on what kinds of weeds we can eat that are around us in the city.
I've learned to use a sewing machine and to apply stitches to a wound.
I can start a fire with friction or pre 20th century tech.
I can filter water without chemicals or modern process.
I can pickle though canning is still a concept to me.
I can build basic things from wood.
Someday, when I can save the money as the class is pretty pricey, I hope to take a butchering class with my wife.

All not fully recognized via hipsters but all pretty much put on the table by hipsters and made available to me.

I just read an article how small game hunting is making a come back... and by hipsters. Pretty neat.

3) Art
I like art. I wish I was an artist sometimes but I have little talent in that direction. I can craft but I'm no artist but I do enjoy it in it's myriad of forms. Hipsters do a lot of art. Sometimes they do it for cheap - as in "I can afford to go see that" cheap.

This creates a relationship that is deemed unique in Portland. I doubt it's just us though. Me, a lower-middle class guy, can patronize the arts! I can afford that picture for $20. I can go to the show for $15. I can buy that print for $30. Sometimes that money goes into the pocket of a friend which makes the deal sweeter.

I went to go see the band Sleep a month ago. It was incredible. More than half the 1500 people there were hipsters. Tickets for me and Gretchen were about $75... affordable.

There's still "big" shows here, like if some famous band came through and the tickets were $60 or something I might go... that depends. I think the most expensive show I went to recently was Morrissey last year.

4) Hobbies and Events
Big comic cons came to Portland the last few years. That's fine but it's not for me. I don't like to spend a lot of money to stand in line. The things at those big cons I have very little interest in. I stood close enough to Stan Lee to punch him once and got my picture taken with Ron Pearlman and my Dad. The year before I kind of high-fived Lou Ferrigno. Then I bought Alien patches at the last one I went to last year which, frankly, I could've got off the internet for much cheaper.

Around the time the big cons took foothold the small ones that have been a Portland Institution disappeared. Why? I don't know. they were gone though - namely the Portland Comic Book Show.

Why did I like those? I could get in for cheap.There were a ton of comics and other things to peruse that I wanted and could afford. It was a bit more intimate and genuine.

I went to one in the early 00s. I rode my bike, got in for $5 walked around and looked at a lot of stuff. I got a good stack of old comics at 25 cents per comic, half a box of unopened Betty Page cards from her beach collection, and some guy was selling of his Lord of the Rings Rohim miniature sets so I got those. The suckiest part of that whole thing was riding home in the rain with those boxes of Riders of Rohim minis. I got home, dried off, popped a PBR, and read some old Avengers stuff.

That whole opportunity died a few years ago.

Now we have Frankenstein's Comic Swap at the Eagle's Lodge every 3-4 months. Who started that up? A local and somewhat large comic company? Nope (though I do love them). Some famous TV stars or movie star? Nope. It was indy comic store Cosmic Monkey (my FLCS by the way) and officiant of my wedding and friend Tim Goodyear! Hipsters? You can decide that but it sure as Hell wasn't some yuppy from Beaverton that did all the work to organize these things.

These same kinds of people also hold HP Lovecraft Festivals, showings of rare or popular movies, and host great parties and concerts.

Speaking of parties... back in my party days some of the greatest parties I ever went to were with or hosted by hipsters.

5) Fashion
I've debated this one. I don't really think hipsters = fashion. I think some hipsters are into it but not that fashion is hipsters. Also, I'm not much into fashion myself so what dog do I have in the fight?

Tattoos! I have some and so do some hipsters. If not for the trend in American Traditional (i.e. old sailor tattoos) there would not be such a choice in style. I'm not mad that kids get sailor tattoos, some are but not me. I've even earned some of those old sailor tatts and have a few. They look good kids, be proud!

Beards and mustaches! Love them and have them. Always rocked some form of the combo. A lot of people hate on lumber-sexuals but not me. Makes me feel OG.

As a matter of fact a lot of what is cool now for men is a modern interpretation of how I dressed in the 90s. Makes me feel good. I never looked as good though.

Of Note:
The other night I was at one of my Friendly Local Game Stores and, for the first time for me, I noticed 2 women, looking kind of hipster-y, playing War Machine. Not one guy within 10 feet of their table, hours at the table. Now, the question can be brought up was it 2 hipster girls playing War Machine? Was it 2 women playing War Machine that was in touch with hipster fashion? After a few seconds of that I stopped thinking about it and accepted it as 2 women bucking the trope of nerd-boys playing War Machine. More power to them.

As a matter of fact on any given Saturday or Sunday I have been to Guardian Games there has been multiple tables of game players that could be stuck dead in the middle of the "you're a hipster" spectrum. Men in striped tank tops and neckerchiefs and neck beards and women with full sleeve and chest tattoos in Slayer t-shirts. It's all good to me.

All this said, things annoy me too. But that's human, people do things and it annoys some people and my annoyance is not stemming from hipsterdom. That will happen and a good thing to do is get over it. I'm sure I do some pretty annoying things too.

Pagan Rus Debut - Two Games

Finally got my Pagan Rus on the table a few weeks ago. Played 2 games with them so far.

Game 1:
See pic above - played Kyle's Anglo-Danes. Being my first game with Pagans, and Kyle's first game against them, we held back the whole time. It was a 6 point Clash of the Warlords. I won 7-5 or something like that. REALLY LOW score. The picture above is not that different from how the game ended.

I was trying to slow the Anglo-Danes down and put some fatigue on them so that I could close and fight in the last few rounds of the game. A lot of my Rus moves were just adjustments in the line, the rest of my rounds I spent slowing things down with the Winter ability.

Not the best ability by the way... unless your plan is to make no one move or shoot, including yourself.

I opened up a bit mid rounds and he was able to get his Levies in to shoot at mine. I was able to use Cold Winds which gave his shooters a fatigue for every "hit" effectively. That worked great! On my following turn I played an ability that allowed me to kill a figure for every fatigue - this is ALL units. That round was the only round that only his Levy had fatigue.

After that there was some back and forth and I barely won the game with some shots from my levy to his.

If this were a movie it would have looked like this:
Cold and snowy field. Two Warlords and their retinues arrive on the field, flanked by there peasant levies just mustered yesterday from nearby farm steads.
The peasants fought all day long while the real warriors moved around for the advantage. None was found, peasants died, Warlords made peace and all had ale that night! Yay!.

Game 2:
I played Jesse and, he having Crescent and Cross, we played a scenario from that book. 6 points Crusaders vs. Pagan Rus, God's Chosen or something like that - the one were you can re-spawn your dead once per round.

Holy crap! What a battle-fest! We pretty much loosened up and went at it. I won't even go into details of abilities or movements... not much there except "move forward and engage, use abilities that give me attack dice or mess you up!"

We got towards the end and at the last round we thought I was ahead by 2 points. We got to the end and Jesse declared me the winner and I declared we should recount our points and Jesse actually had one it by ONE LEVY.

One ability I did not use in that game was the Winter one. No need really.

Looking forward to my nest game with my Pagan Rus!