Youtube Channel Saga Thorsday

Via Studio Tomahawk forums I found Wisco Horndog and his Saga Thorsday videos. I have been playing Saga for over 3 years ... 4 years? ... and consider myself experienced. I'm not tooting my horn or anything but I've quite a few Saga games under my belt though I can always use more experience. On top of that I never felt very good at "figuring out" any rule set until I am running it for years (Dungeons and Dragons 3.x for example). Still, time in and reading other opinions about something is the combo I need to learn something. I used to suck at it, now I think I am an OK player and would not feel completely outclassed at a tournament.

Most Saga videos, over the years, have been really basic; unboxings and tabletop reviews. Frankly I hate those kinds of reviews for anything. Nothing is more of a waste of time to me than a review where somebody videos a new and shiny item they just got in the mail and surmise things it could do.

Where was Wisco Horndog (funny fuggin name) 3 years ago!?! Wow! This guy and his guests really do a good job of breaking things down, the Saga battle boards that is.

That brings me to a point I'd like to make and an epiphany I had and have discussed face to face wit ha few others. First, as I have mentioned before, my first 2 games in the genre of Historical Wargames was All the King's Men (in 54mm) and then Saga. I got into other games later. I kind of dove into Historicals feet first and with little knowledge of the generations the hobby has been around and it's history, sacred cows, and traditions. I'm learning about the nuances of the hobby and it's culture as I type this here blog entry.

Bare with me here...

Saga is not a historical wargame. Please, take this statement as just that, a statement. I mean no offense, I also do not mean to attract haters of the game in some shark-frenzy.

It's got historical trappings - Dark Ages, figures in nasal helms and hauberks with spears and shields. They are called Norman and Norse Gael and Anglo Saxons. They have specific boards that have abilities that are congruent to the mythology of the culture named. Pagan Rus are connected to the cold Russian steppes so have all kinds of winter abilities. Byzantines are the Eastern Romans and have a military system to match thus Saga board abilities that match that. The diaspora of Vikings is a fast-moving and aggressive force and their battle board replicates that rather well in my opinion.

BUT ... it plays more like a typical War-Ham-Ma-Hordes game. It at least leans that way. It's "fiddly" and there are distinct tactics you should be playing depending on the war-band you are playing. Not being aggressive with Vikings? You'll fold real fast. Charging straight in with your Bretons? You'll probably get crushed.

Further - Saga is not a beer and pretzels game. It kind of acts like one. Games are under 2 hours most of the time. Small-ish board and not a ton of terrain needed. Around 40 figures per side. Easy to get said figures as there is no exclusive line.

BUT... there are objectives, figure removal, scores, you can pull an ability combo at the right time and change the course of the game so there is some gaminess. One can torque and tinker with a build to exploit certain rules if so inclined.

To me, and in my small amount of experience in wargaming, that is not a beer and pretzel game like Lion Rampant can be. Like many other games I have not experienced can be. You can get a game in under 2 hours though, that's really easy for some experienced players.

On that note, and to bring back around full circle, that's why I love Rodge "Wisco Horndog" and his Saga Thorsday videos. He tells you what the function of a specific Saga Battle Board is and unpacks it to it's core and, since he's a War-Ham-Ma-Hordes guy (and I assuming, I know very little about him really) he can break down Saga like that.

If you are inexperienced I recommend his videos as he and his guests go over a war-band's battle board, some abilities gets a "JUICY" comment, and that indicates to you it's something you should be doing while playing. He boils it down much better than I could ever do I think.

Brings me to the point regarding my discovery a few years ago about finding the "rice" to you battle board... the ability that only costs you a common or uncommon dice and you should load up every round (other than the ability almost all war bands has that increases your attack pool). Here is a partial list off the top of my head from my own experience:
Vikings - Ulr
Normans - maybe Gallop
Pagan Rus - Standing Like Bears
Norse Gaels and Bretons - not sure yet
Scots - Hold the Ground and Counter-Attack

Why do it this way? It speeds up the game #1 (a complaint about Saga I have seen - people take a long time pondering the battle board allocating Saga dice). It also gives you a base tactic that all other tactics will play off of. This helps me focus myself and speeds up the game for me.

Anyways, most of you are getting ready for Enfilade 2017 as I post this so I'll cut it here. If you like Saga give Saga Thorsday a good watch and, even if you are expereinced, you may learn a thing or 2. I sure did.

See you at Enfilade. If not, have a good weekend, Memorial Day is for those that passed before us, and I hope to run into you soon.

Shield and Spear – Portland Saga Tournament 2017

In October 2017 I am hosting a Saga tournament. 11:00 – 6:00, Saturday October 14th, at Guardian Games in The Level Up room upstairs above The Critical Sip.

Entry fee is a $5-$20 donation going to Horns for theHomeless, a non-profit I have been working with this year. Also accepted are new(ish) outdoor gear like socks and gloves, tents and tarps, backpacks and sleeping bags.

http://www.hornsforthehomeless.org/

Some tournament rules:
Dark Ages, Crescent and Cross, Arthur and Aetius war bands allowed.

Bring 7 points for your war band; you will be playing 6 points per game.

Scenario based score, 3-2-1 (win-draw-lose) scoring – no slaughter points.

Swiss Bracket; tie-breaker will be strength of schedule.

Scenarios will be revealed day of tourney; all of them will be from Core and Crescent and Cross books.

I will be playing if there is an odd number of players – I cannot win anything but I will play my best.

This is the basics for now – I might have a painting contest and I am working on prizes from local vendors or individuals only as I want to support my local gaming suppliers.

Since it’s still pre-Enfilade, no need to RSVP but I’d like that to happen. Keep up with news and developments here and on Portland Historical Wargames Facebook page.
https://www.facebook.com/groups/Rosecity.Bondi/

Also you will find this advertised on the Ambuscade! blog:
https://ambuscadeportland.blogspot.com/2017/05/save-date-shield-and-spear-saga.html

I will also be handing out small handbills that look the same as the Ambuscade! post at Enfilade this year.

Guardian Games

Guardian Games is my Friendly Local Game Store (FLGS). I’m lucky to live in a growing city that offers me a few choices like Red Castle in SE Portland in Foster-Powell and Portland Game Store in N Portland on Killingsworth, which interestingly enough are both located in neighborhoods I lived in the past… and if I still lived there they would be where you found me all the time.

Alas, Guardian is HUGE comparably. They also have some historical products on the shelves though they have a bit of almost anything I could ever want gaming-wise: Historical miniatures, Osprey books, paint and craft supplies, fantasy and sci-fi miniatures, any boardgame I could ever dream of, Dungeons and Dragons and pretty much any other RPG, even some video games for my PS4. The one thing they offer that I partake of mostly is a gaming space. Red Castle and Portland Game Store do too but Guardian has, like product, a huge range.

The reason why this is important to me is that I live, with my small family, in a small apartment. We do not have the space for me to run an RPG or wargame. One goal I have in life is to have a home that has a garage/basement/extra room/backyard I can put a nice shed in with a big table and shelves for gaming.

Guardian’s space offers me:

·         A walk-in table for any kind of pick-up game, let’s say on a Wednesday night I want to play Tanks with Jeff… we’d just go meet at Guardian.

·         Reservations for any small event, either in the general area or in The Critical Sip where beer can be bought. This is typically how we do Portland Historical Wargaming monthly games. It’s free.

·         I can also reserve a game room, from 4 people to 40 people. These do cost money. Ambuscade and my Saga tournaments are usually up in the Level-Up room that has a capacity of 60 people (though that would be tight).

Like I mention above, you can buy a beer in The Critical Sip. You can also buy snacks of all kinds, wine, cider, mead, Slime Jims, and a Coke. On top of that many places will deliver food there and on weekends a burrito truck will park in the parking lot. If that does not suit you there are many restaurants within walking distance, Bunk Sandwiches being one of my favorites.

A little bit about them selling beer:

Here in Oregon our alcohol sales (and now cannabis) is regulated by a state agency called the Oregon Liquor Control Commission aka OLCC. Not to get too much into how I feel about them the OLCC is very strict and complicated. To sell beer you must open yourselves to regulation by the OLCC. Typically this is done by bars and restaurants and convenience stores. Other places could sell beer too but it is just too much of a hassle for a place to sell beer if selling that beer is not your focus … like a game store.

I worked as a bouncer at many places over the years, almost all of those place selling alcohol thus under the scrutiny of the OLCC. Further, in the late 00s security at establishments licensed to sell alcohol had to also get an OLCC card like a bartender would. I’m not sure if that was legally mandated or just suggested. One of the things I was constantly on the lookout for was OLCC agents setting up stings and sending in people with fake IDs or getting served without showing an ID, there being no “you look old enough” law. The law, as I knew it since the early 00s was that a person old enough to drink in an establishment must have satisfactory proof of age to do so… ID. You can look like fucking Santa Claus and if an OLCC agent sees you in a bar and you do not have ID the bar gets fined. Last I checked it was $750.

So that’s why old guys get carded all the time in The Critical Sip, where they sell beer and cider. It’s also why you can’t bring in your own water bottles or other drinks. It’s not just for them to be able to maximize profit but also it’s the law that, if broken, could cost them $1000.  Being as how beer sales is more a friendly service than a focus of business one should kindly abide by such rules. It’s not them, it’s the OLCC.

The Level Up room and other rooms upstairs, since you have to go through the Critical Sip to get to them, is also under the umbrella of OLCC service rules. That is why, when you come to one of my Saga Tournaments, I will offer everyone a bottle of water that I bought from Guardian.

For those that do not know the lay out of Guardian here is a link to Spencer's Ambuscade blog where he just put up some directions and diagrams. I'll copy and past those diagrams here too:

I also have some very poor pictures of the actual room but I'm going to take some better ones next week, I had reserved a large table in Critical Sip for some pre-Enfilade Saga games and I plan to run up stairs to get a few panoramic shots of Level Up Room for Ambuscade blog.

And to advertise it on my own blog - Shield and Spear - Portland Saga Tournament, will be held in The Level Up October 14th, 2017. Start painting that Dark Age Irish army now! More details to follow of course. Stay tuned on this blog for that.