“Saga Club”, Scots Covenanters, Dungeons and Dragons, and Future Projects

At this year’s Enfilade a few guys referred to me as “Portland Saga Guy”. Not offended or anything, nor did it go to my head like I AM THE PORTLAND SAGA GUY!!, but I took it as a cue that I could get something Saga-centric in Portland going with some help from a few others – namely Spencer. Like Uncle Ben said to Peter: "With great power comes great responsibility."

I put a few e-mails and Facebook messages out that I was going to create a Google Group and call it PDX-Metro Saga. Not a club, not a league, just a group for active Saga players in the Portland-Metro area. The goal is to get together for regular play once per month at Guardian Games. Requirements being:
1) You *want to play Saga once per month.

2) You have a table-ready warband.

3) You have other accessories like dice and stuff.

4) You have a couple games under your belt… basically; you played it once already and are ready to learn.

*Want does not equate to “required to”; totally understandable that we are grown-ups with grown-up things to attend to that have much more importance.

I got a surprisingly larger number of volunteers. Nothing huge, like 40 people, but better than the under 10 I thought I’d get. I was happy.

Our first official game day for PDX-Metro Saga is July 22, Saturday, at Guardian Games. I am bringing my Pagan Rus war band. Others are bringing Normans, Anglo Saxons, and Vikings. Some have decided to surprise us and not tell us what they are bringing. It’s not required that you tell or not.

I’m excited for this day and hope there is a bright future for Saga in Portland.

I got in a game of Pikeman’s Lament at Spencer’s house a few Friday nights ago. My first game I learned a lot. It’s easy for me to pick up as the rules engine is Dan Mersey’s X Rampant. I’ve played that a few times and my knowledge base there is solid in the basics. I like Pikeman’s Lament a bit more that Lion Rampant and Dragon Rampant for a few reasons:
1) 3 inch rule is reduced to 1 inch.
2) Units activate a little bit easier thus less chance of a failed activation roll and losing your turn – probably the rule I hate the most in not just X Rampant engine but in gaming in general.**

3) A little bit of personality… or mechanical abilities… for your officer, adding some role-playing… touching on my love for role-playing.

** I love X Rampant rules engine. It is simple, elegant, has enough options to flavor up important things but open enough to allow for all kinds of model options… it just hits a sweet spot in all the games I have played. It’s all good except the failed activation rule. This is not the place to get into it but I have many opinions on that rule.

Spencer and I played with our English Civil War collections – he with his Royal English troops and I with my Scots Covenanters. The game was even until the Royal cavalry started shining and doing lots of damage to my right flank, in a village and where my Lancers and a saker were deployed, and my left flank, an open field were we both deployed the bulk of our foot regiments. I was able to, finally, get my brave pikemen into the fray but it was too late by then. Lesson learned was to protect your musketeers with those pikemen.

Lancers going down the village road.

IRL how it played out is I did not figure out what my pikemen could actually do until the last half of the game and by them the English cavalry had done their damage and chased off some of my musketeer companies. WHOOPS! Those crazy Scots!

After posting this picture I realized that it feeds into that whole Scots / sheep joke mythology. For this I apologize. I like this picture of my miniatures though.

Anyways, fun game and a fire has been lit up under my butt to paint up more and play this game more with Spencer and whoever else.

Dungeons and Dragons has picked up. After a long hiatus from RPing, and an earlier campaign this year kind of coming to an end too soon, I joined up with NE Portland RPG… sounds official and all but it’s just some friends from Cinema Babylon running a game and they invited me in. We play in a dank basement! It’s not that dank but it’s still a basement.

Austin is the Dungeon Master and he’s running me, Peter, Dylan, and Andrew through the D&D campaign Out of the Abyss. So far it’s been a lot of fun and we’ve been playing weekly. My character is a Paladin from a country called Amn (fantasy analogue of Spain). He is young and an idealist but his time tromping through the darkness of The Underdark is grating on him a bit. He’s already been slain by a demon, then risen and taking the Oath of Vengeance, turning him a bit grim in his outlook. It’s all cool and shit.

Demons! Oh my!!

I’m not planning to really add much to my miniatures collection this year, at least I don’t have any plans to buy a new rule set and paint up a new army. My only plans right now are to:

1) Finish up my Scot Covenanters in my lead mountain.

2) Source and paint up a small war band of Mongols for Lion Rampant.
3) Paint some niche figures to round out existing war bands in Saga – some Varangians, some Pagan Rus warriors, stuff like that.

I'm Rus because of the Santa hat and rectangular shield.

I’m also going to be working on some 54mm and 70mm figures I have had for a long time and need painting. That also includes working on some craft techniques I normally don’t use while painting for my table top miniatures. It’s about time for me to get out of my comfort zone and try some new stuff there, though I do not have the time or space for an airbrush which is what a lot of people suggest. That’s just too rich for my blood and out of my economic class!

Reaper Miniatures Sophie in 70mm - and me working on some blending techniques.

I have an interest in some modern-type games – Black Ops being the main one. In my lead mountain are modern bikers and SWAT figures so I suppose I can paint those up and get a couple squads going there. I have the rule book too so there is nothing holding me back. I also used some birthday money in May to buy Project Z for some post-apocalypse zombie fun. I’ve opened that box but have not painted any miniatures though I have some miniatures usable for the game already done up from past games I have played in the genre.

A little tradition I picked up last year, based off my “if Guardian is allowing me to use their space to play war games for free I best drop a $20 every time I go there” plan, was to by a Reaper Bones Tiik warrior or baron every visit. Well, that collection has built up and now I’ve got about a dozen fish-dudes looking for a job… Dragon Rampant anyone?

Fish people all grabby with those hands.