I always like to set “my” minis apart from the rest of the pack, go the extra mile. I enjoy when gamer’s say “are those so and so manufacture?” because they look a bit different. I do this in a couple of ways, painting, basing, and customizing the figures themselves. I like variety in my figures and sometimes a line doesn’t have enough different poses for me so I’ll grab some sculpting putty (two part green stuff) and have at it. Now I’m no sculptor, I don’t do whole figures, but I’m pretty fair at cutting models up and customizing them.
I’ve been trying to clean up some lose ends on the work bench and one of the projects sitting on the shelf for a while has been some Dark Ages civilians for SAGA scenarios. For the “Escort” scenario I needed three objective units and I had the minis for several carts, and a pig farmer and his pigs.
The collection of figures and carts getting prepped for “Escort” duty!
Most of the minis were from Gripping Beast and they are great figures BUT I was not satisfied with the way they would appear around the carts. I just didn’t think the poses were quite right; I wanted them to really appear as if they were pushing/pulling cart. There was also no wagon driver…. This led to them sitting half done on the shelf.
After looking at the project for about a year while I painted a few other SAGA warbands (Normans, Vikings, and Anglo Danes) I decided to do something about it. I decided that there was no way around it I was going to have to create a sitting driver. Now I’m no sculptor but I’m not bad at taking one figure and modifying it to be what I want, in fact that’s one of the most enjoyable aspects of this hobby.
I have nearly all the Foundry Vikings and consider them the best Viking line available. I have quite a few still unpainted and after going through them I soon found a likely candidate for customization. I wanted to have;
One arm using a whip.
One arm holding reins
Legs easily modified to sitting position.
No armor.
I found a great candidate and prepared for “surgery”
Arms were almost right to start with but the legs would be a lot of work.
The Figure was wearing a sword and that would have to be removed.
Foundry uses a good quality metal in their figures and cutting and filing are very easy. After studying the figure for a bit I determined where and what kind of cuts were needed. Some cuts like the arm were completely through but most were wedge type allow removal of a section to allow bending of the figure into the proper pose. After the cuts and bends the areas were made to look right with Kneadite “Green Stuff” sculpting putty. Cutting, bending, and lots of filing were done to the rear buttocks and leg area to create a sitting figure. To help “blend” the figure into the seat a sheepskin seat cushion was sculpted from more green stuff
Yellow lines show cuts made.
The figure also got a whip made of brass rod and a “Greenstuff” handle in the arm that normally held a spear. The green stuff was give a day to cure and primed and painted.
Brass whip really gives life to the figure!
The cart itself had already had work done to it to make it look better and have more detail. Since I wanted to have the driver holding some reins I wold have to create them and make it look believable. Very little real evidence on rigs from the period really exist but ox carts still in use today use much the same systems so a believable modification was worked out.
Sculpting putty was used to create pads on yoke as well as blend in the area where the horns were glued on.
I keep a lot of small cheap chains bought at a local craft stores “bead” section and used a few links to create the “iron work” as well as some small aluminum wire twisted and painted to look like rope.
Do you need this kind of detail? “I do!” it’s eye candy! The rope wire will be bent under the oxen’s necks, cut to length, connected, primed, and painted.
The white “centra” board is a thick plastic stock that later will be carved and customized into the base
Well it’s about here in most of my projects that I just get sucked to finishing them and forget to take pictures but its mostly done anyway. I did the reins, the base, and few little touches. There is still another figure to do but he will come later. Here’s a few closing shots of the finished project….enjoy! If you like it please leave a comment, it keeps us going!
The iron yoke work shown earlier can be seen here in it’s finished state as well as the base work. Ancient dirt roads looked much different than the ones used by cars today.
I think the finished yoke work came out nicely. the reins are simplified for project, but most just involved turning an animals head in the direction you wanted to go.
Much of the baggage was created from “Sculpy” modeling clay, as well as the tarp.
The reins are thick thread painted as rope and a hole was drilled in his hand to allow pass through. I really like how the figure came out. I not sure how the figure feels being taken from “warrior” status down to “cart driving farmer”?
Well it was a fun project and one of those pieces of “eye candy” that makes the battlefield come alive! I have several more projects in the “Escort” series and they will follow shortly.
Well its been awhile since I’ve posted up anything, not that there wasn’t anything going on its just that some times there is so much going on that time for posting it up is in short supply!
I did make some time to get down to the “Dog of War” club house for some gaming over the last month and that included a great gaming session based on the Crusader era “Crescent and Cross” SAGA rules. Tim Daun has been working on a multi player scenario featuring the 7th Crusades battle in Egypt circa 1250 for the control of the city of “MANSURAH”
The pictures are can be opened (by right clicking and selecting open) for a much higher res picture! It may take awhile if your internet speed is slow or you are using a mobile device! Use your browser’s back button to return to the article. Please be sure to check out the high speed time lapse of the game linked at the end, a 4 hour game in about 2 minutes! There are also quite a few more pictures on the official “Dogs of War” site maintained by Tim D at Dogs of War
The French, English, and Milites (Military Orders) land and deploy from their camp
These beautiful French and English SAGA warbands are from the collections of Tim Daun and Chris Snell, dam nice looking on the field!
This SAGA recreation was the second “play test” of the possible game to be put on at a convention in the future. Tim D, Chris S, and Rick A would command the Muslim forces and Dave D, Chris V. and Bill W (me) commanding the assaulting Crusaders. The main task of the Crusaders is to secure the City as a base of operations for continuation of the crusade. Failing to do this leaves them stranded and open to attack, so they must clear the city completely. I wont go into the game much as it is still having play balance adjusted and needs to be played quite a few times for players to get the “feel” for it, work out strategy, and of course adjustments to be made. I will say I think it already plays well and is a lot of fun. With a few more tweaks it will be another classic “Dog’s of War” production!
Rick “Abbu Bey” not only looks quite confident as the cities Muslim commander he looks the part! Buildings by Crescent Root Studios
We are ready to soak our sand with the infidels blood!
This battle (the 2nd) was I’m told a much better showing by crusader forces with them making it into town, clearing several buildings, while taking few losses. Other battles raged on the outskirts of the city where again the crusaders fought well and kept most of the Muslim relief forces from any hope of helping the cities defenders. The game however ended with Muslim forces still in control of half of the city so was technically a victory for the forces under the Crescent Banner!
Ricks Muslim Hearth Guard was held fast against the tide of Crusaders taking but a few losses!
My “Teutonic Knights” are raring to go!
I played my Teutonic Knights and did well mostly by raising my “piety” level up to a “4” and at this level the bonuses become very powerful! My Crossbowmen move forward mowing down Muslim defenders as if they were all armed with 50 caliber machine guns! In hindsight I made a few mistakes being new to my Teutonic’s and the scenario. I should have moved faster and more aggressively in clearing the town (this was true across the crusade army) and my last heroic charges by the Teutonic Knight Hearth guard while glorious at first were too late and ultimately directed at the wrong target.
Joe Nacchio as always provided some great accent terrain pieces to the setup. Joe is a real team player and many wargamers do not real think about how important these little extra touches are to any game!
The terrain was top notch and sure to be much more spectacular should this game ever make it to a convention. Thanks to all the “Dogs” for a great Saturday of Gaming!
Bill W
Check the entire 4 hour battle in 2 minutes! Go full screen and have your sound on! and remember you can select higher video quality if your system supports it. (up to 4k for this video!
Below a brief synopsis of the conflict taken from Wikipedia
By the mid-13th century, the Crusaders became convinced that Egypt, the heart of Islam’s forces and arsenal, was an obstacle to their ambition to capture Jerusalem, which they had lost for the second time in 1244. In 1245, during the First Council of Lyon, Pope Innocent IV gave his full support to the Seventh Crusade being prepared by Louis IX, King of France.
The goals of the Seventh Crusade were to destroy the Ayyubid dynasty in Egypt and Syria, and to recapture Jerusalem. The Crusaders asked the Mongols to become their allies against the Muslims, the Crusaders attacking the Islamic world from west, and the Mongols attacking from the east. Güyük, the Great Khan of the Mongols, told the Pope’s envoy that the Pope and the kings of Europe should submit to the Mongols.
Louis the IX
The ships of the Seventh Crusade, led by KingLouis’s brothers, Charles d’Anjou and Robert d’Artois, sailed from Aigues-Mortes and Marseille to Cyprus during the autumn of 1248, and then on to Egypt. The ships entered Egyptian waters and the troops of the Seventh Crusade disembarked at Damietta in June 1249. Louis IX sent a letter to as-Salih Ayyub. Emir Fakhr ad-Din Yusuf, the commander of the Ayyubid garrison in Damietta, retreated to the camp of the Sultan in Ashmum-Tanah, causing a great panic among the inhabitants of Damietta, who fled the town, leaving the bridge that connected the west bank of the Nile with Damietta intact. The Crusaders crossed over the bridge and occupied Damietta, which was deserted. The fall of Damietta caused a general emergency (called al-Nafir al-Am النفير العام) to be declared, and
One of French King Louis’s brothers Charles d’Anjou
locals from Cairo and from all over Egypt moved to the battle zone. For many weeks, the Muslims used guerrilla tactics against the Crusader camps; many of the Crusaders were captured and sent to Cairo. As the Crusader army was strengthened by the arrival of
Alphonse de Poitiers, the third brother of King Louis IX, at Damietta, the Crusaders were encouraged by the news of the death of the Ayyubid Sultan, as-Salih Ayyub. The Crusaders began their march towards Cairo. Shajar al-Durr, the widow of the dead Sultan, concealed the news for some time and sent Faris ad-Din Aktai to Hasankeyf to recall Turanshah, the son and heir, to ascend the throne and lead the Egyptian army.
The Battle
The Crusaders approached the battle by the canal of Ashmum (known today by the name Albahr Alsaghir), which separated them from the Muslim camp. An Egyptian showed the Crusaders the way to the canal shoals. The Crusaders, led by Robert of Artois, crossed the canal with the Knights Templar and an English contingent led by William of Salisbury, launching a surprise assault on the Egyptian camp in Gideila, two miles (3 km) from Al Mansurah, and advancing toward the royal palace in Al Mansurah. The leadership of the Egyptian forces passed to the Mamluks Faris Ad-Din Aktai and Baibars al-Buduqdari who contained the attack and reorganized the Muslim forces. This was the first appearance of the Mamluks as supreme commanders inside Egypt. Shajar al-Durr, who had full control of Egypt, agreed with Baibars’ plan to defend Al Mansurah. Baibars ordered the gate be opened to let the Crusaders enter the town. The crusaders rushed in, thinking the town deserted, only to find themselves trapped inside. The Crusaders were besieged from all directions by Egyptian forces and the local population, and they took heavy losses. Robert of Artois, who took refuge in a house, and William of Salisbury were both killed along with most of the Knights Templar. Only five Templar Knights escaped alive. The Crusaders retreated to their camp in disorder, and surrounded it with a ditch and wall. Early on the morning of February 11, the Muslim forces launched a devastating offensive against the Frankish camp. On February 27, the new sultan Turanshah arrived in Al Mansurah to lead the Egyptian army, and the death of as-Salih Ayyub was formally announced in Egypt. Ships were transported overland and dropped in the Nile behind the Crusader ships blocking the reinforcement line from Damietta. The Egyptians used Greek fire, destroying and seizing many Crusader supply vessels. The besieged Crusaders soon began suffering from famine and disease. Some Crusaders deserted to the Muslim side.
Despite being overwhelmed and ultimately defeated, King Louis IX tried to negotiate with the Egyptians, offering the surrender of the Egyptian port of Damietta in exchange for Jerusalem and a few towns on the Syrian coast. The Egyptians rejected the offer, and the Crusaders retreated to Damietta under cover of darkness on April 5, followed closely by the Muslim forces. At the subsequent Battle of Fariskur, the last major battle of the Seventh Crusade, the Crusader forces were annihilated and King Louis IX was captured on April 6. Meanwhile, the Crusaders were circulating false information in Europe, claiming that King Louis IX defeated the Sultan of Egypt in a great battle, and Cairo had been betrayed into Louis’s hands. Later, when the news of Louis IX’s capture and the French defeat reached France, the Shepherds’ Crusade movement occurred in France.
Louis IX was taken prisoner.
Aftermath
According to medieval Muslim historians, 15,000 to 30,000 French fell on the battlefield and thousands were taken prisoners.[24]Louis IX of France was captured in the nearby village of Moniat Abdallah (now Meniat el Nasr), chained and confined in the house of Ibrahim Ibn Lokman, the royal chancellor, and under the guard of a eunuch named Sobih al-Moazami.[25] The king’s brothers, Charles d’Anjou and Alphonse de Poitiers, were taken prisoner at the same time, and were carried to the same house with other French nobles. The sultan provided for their subsistence. A camp was set up outside the town to shelter the rest of the prisoners. Louis IX was ransomed for 400,000 dinars. After pledging not to return to Egypt, Louis surrendered Damietta and left for Acre with his brothers and 12,000 war prisoners whom the Egyptians agreed to release.
The battle of Al Mansurah was a source of inspiration for writers and poets of that time. One of the satiric poems ended with the following verses: “If they (the Franks) decide to return to take revenge or to commit a wicked deed, tell them :The house of Ibn Lokman is intact, the chains still there as well as the eunuch Sobih”. —from stanza by Jamal ad-Din ibn Matruh.
The name of Al Mansurah (Arabic: “the Victorious”) that dates from an earlier period was consolidated after this battle. The city still holds the name of Al Mansurah today, as the capital of the Egyptian governorate, Daqahlia. The National Day of DaqahliaGovernorate (capital Al Mansurah) on February 8, marks the anniversary of the defeat of Louis IX in 1250. The house of Ibn Lokman, which is now the only museum in Al Mansurah, is open to the public and houses articles that used to belong to the French monarch, including his personal thirteenth century toilet.
My main gaming buddy Steve Gausche had a Birthday approaching and being a guy with everything I had to figure out a gift he wanted, he needed, and something he couldn’t get anywhere else….? Easy! A Byzantine Cataphract! Steve had SAGA Byzantine Warband painted by “Monty” he purchased about a year ago, but it had not come with the very cool fully armored heavy horse cavalry used by the Byzantine Emperor Belasarious! Steve had mentioned several times he might pick up and paint some of these. Knowing Steve I sensed this would not happen soon if ever!
So with a couple of clicks on Gripping Beast website a 4 figure unit of 28mm BZC06 Byzantine Kataphractoi were winging their way across the sea to me and my waiting paintbrushes. Within a week they were sitting on my “workbench” going through the pre-paint process. That’s where I trim flash, alter poses, and fix any casting problems a well as make custom changes to the figures. I like to have figures that are unique and a bit better than a just painted of the shelf figure set.
One of the first problems I found in the casting was that the riders did not fit very well on the horses, they fit but if simply glued in place there would be huge apparent gaps between horse and rider. I’m somewhat of a perfectionist in my figure work and known for taking time with details that most of the time only I would notice….oh well that’s me!
I knew that the gap was way to big for simple filling with glue. Even milliput of other filler would not look right. I decided to use kneadite, blue / yellow, the 2 part sculpting epoxy (used for sculpting figures from scratch) and sculpt the missing space to look like the rest of the figure. This would mostly be some padding and chain armor around the figures legs.
Besides the filling around the legs I would do scratch built steel spears, spear points, copper flags, and a few other additions. I was planning on just using decals for the shields but as usual I was not happy with that and painted the shields by hand.
The Byzantines Kataphractoi Cavalry used “Kontos” a very, very long spear (some estimate it at around 21’) and I wanted that to be represented on these figures if I could. The only problem with that was that a true scale 21’ spear would create problems with storage as well as their use on the battlefield. I chose to use a spear length of about 15 scale feet as it gave a good “long” look and still worked reasonably well for storage in my case.
To the spear I added some flags and pennants. I sculpted some horse tail pennants as well just to give variety. I was not sure about the job at first but later pictures show it came out great, in fact I sometimes forget it was not part of the factory “sculpt”.
On to the prime coat and as with most of my “metal” mini’s I used “Krylon” auto primer flat black. This primer not only works great but is very inexpensive, about $5 a large can.
No more “gaps” after the additional sculpting/filling.
Well after this point I got into my painting mode and didn’t take another picture until they were based and painted! I think they came out quite nice. I went back and forth as to a shield design, at one point I was just going to decal them, but in the end I hand painted them as I like to do. Its a lot more work but I think it then gives you a true hand painted figure. I’m not a real good painter (figures yes but portraits, no!) but I took a stab at painting the “Savior” on their shields as I thought that was very appropriate. This gives them the feel of “being Protected by their Faith!”
The “Kicker” of this who story of “Steve’s Birthday Figures” is that Steve was touched, happy, and impressed with the gift of the “Byzantine Cataphract” but let slip that he was thinking of selling the “warband” since he did not like playing them….Lol! So I guess I’ll just do a unit of Viking Archers for him as he will like them a whole lot more….. the Byzantine Cav? Well I may sell them or I just might paint a Byzantine warband for myself!
Wow! What a great turn out and day of gaming! The last weekend in January saw the culmination of 3 months of game days leading up to Saturdays SAGA Tournament! Twenty players fought 3 rounds each over the course of 6 hours to determine the chosen few left standing at the end to receive some of the great “loot” from the prize table!
Last summer the Los Angeles based “Dog’s of War” miniatures war gaming group was kibitzing at their clubhouse or as we call it “the Dog Pound” and putting forth ideas for a get together outside the club to both promote miniature war gaming and hold an event with others outside the group. We decided to limit the scope of the project to our current favorite period and rules “SAGA” Dark Ages Battles. We hoped to meet new players, bring other SAGA players out of their garages, and even possibly create new devotees to the game. Several plans were put forth. We finally decided to run a series of game days where we would be able to both bring current players together as well as introduce new players to the game in a casual setting. Several different venues were considered for these events before finally deciding to start where we knew there to be gamers who were interested in SAGA.
We approached Chuck Robbins of the Game Empire in Pasadena, California, with the idea and got a positive response to our ideas. Soon we were holding regular SAGA game days every 2 weekends and the response from both current and new players was great. It
Mike and Chuck share a laff!
seemed that there had been a small group doing SAGA there months before but interest had waned as a few of the main players had moved. With the support and drive of the Dogs of War this was about to change. Any type of gaming, especially miniature wargaming interest level is critical and when gaming is sporadic or monotonous (same opponent every week) interest levels plummet. This leads to disappointment and a reluctance of gamers to invest money and time in a set of rules and figures that they feel will be rarely used, or the “enjoyment factor” will be low verse the investment.
A couple of “Dogs” share a moment……
Well the “Dogs of War” are persistent, dependable, and dedicated, if they are anything and it showed in the final turnout where after a reliable series of game days the player count for the tournament exceeded anyone’s expectations and that even after half a dozen players we thought would surly be there had to cancel! The tournament was as big as several others I have seen at big conventions!, with better prizes, and more fun!
Rick Abbo makes and sells some cool Fatigue markers
Before I get into the tournament I want to thank all the “Dogs” for their hard work in putting this together, making the drive week after week, lugging terrain, mats, rules, and troops to teach, lend and develop new players. Chris Snell for all the above and always being there, Joe Naccio for his always on top efforts, building, painting, and contributing much more than we all really know (Joe painted his extra figure into the Viking Warband prize, the Viking Command stand prize, and provided all the “tweezers” door prizes!, David Dandridge for his level headed consul, devotion, and volunteering to not play and take the reins of umpiring and tabulating the tourney (woot I got to play!). Rick, Tim and the Sarge, Galen, Steve G, and all the “Dogs” well done! Rick and I both contributed prizes as well, Hills, Fatigue counter stands, trees, sacred ground markers…..
Ricks newest creation a turn record piece.
We all also need to remember that this would not have been possible with out the Game Empire and Chuck Robbins. The Game Empire is one of the last “Brick and Mortar” game shops left around LA and we all need to support them so events like this can go on! Chuck contributed to both the prize pool and the use of his store space resources over the last three months. Travis his store manager was always there to help and is a wealth of experience in running events, thanks Chuck and Travis.
my first opponent James and his Skraelings….
The first rounds began shortly after 11am Saturday and the last finishing up about 6:30 that evening. The 20 players who registered and fought were as follows;
Frank VillaOrlad / Teutonic Knights, Jose Farinas / Crusaders, Christian Sorensen / Anglo-Danes, Dennis Bolin / Welsh, Rick Abbo / Moors, James Stilwell / Skraelings, Sara Stilwell / Vikings, Roger Stilwell / Anglo-Saxons, Bill Stilwell / Normans, Tim Daun / Anglo-Danes, Chuck Robbins / Normans, Igor Torgeson / Normans, Mike Gunson / Anglo-Danes, Bill Witthans / Vikings, Chris Armstrong / Anglo-Saxon, Chirs Snell / Normans, Steve Gausche / Vikings, Galen Yee / Anglo-Danes, Joe Naccio / Skraelings, and Jeff McArthur / ?
This great Viking army was built, painted and donated by Joe Naccio! Hats off to Joe!
The current “goto” warband Anglo-Danes were the most popular and did well, but failed to make it to the top. Vikings and Normans were also well represented with Roger Stilwell’s Viking warband taking top spot and the grand prize of…what else, a painted Viking Warband! Hot on his heels for top honors was Chuck Robbins with his Normans going like Roger’s Vikings win/win/win and only getting edged down to 2nd place by 3 points. Chuck picked up a very nice Viking command stand painted and donated by Joe Naccio. 3rd place went to Bill Stilwell another of the Stilwell family gamers playing yet again another Norman
Rick Abbo makes and sells some cool Fatigue markers
warband. Bill took home some of Rick Abbo’s custom “Fatigue” marker stands. Rick makes and sell these, email him for info. Dennis Bolin came in 4th place with the only Welsh warband to see action that day and took a set of “Sacred Ground” markers made for the tourney (made / donated by me). Jose Farinas came in at 5th and was rewarded with a set of trees (also from me) and last place, winner of the “Wooden Spoon” award was Chris Armstrong who’s dice utterly failed him! He gets a new set of dice from the Game Empire! Everyone else was rewarded with a cool set of “tweezers” a door prize from Joe N. and a great day of wargaming!
Some cool hills buit and donated by “yours Truly”
So as I played in and ran the tourney I was pretty busy so I’m not able to speak about all the other battles, just the ones I was in. First I fought James Stilwell and his Skraelings, James was a tough competitor and the Skraelings can give any opponent fits, I pressed my Vikings hard and they broke through killing his Warlord on turn 4. Next was Chris Snell, Chris and I have fought many battles before and he’s tough…normally I have Normans against his Vikings but this time he had Normans and I the Vikings! Chris has learned to finesse his Normans and gave me a hard time, we fought tooth and nail however I was getting the worst of it and my die rolls weren’t helping. I made one last effort to push into his Warlord. I killed all but one of his hearth guard, he ALL my figures save the warlord so that found our Warlords slugging it out for the next two two rounds with my warlord surviving TWO rounds of shooting from both a full 12 man levy bow unit and his near full strength crossbow unit! EPIC!!!! 4-5 people were watching and sheering this one!
My Vikings charge over the hill, into Chris Snell’s Normans, and Valhalla!
My warlord killed 2 or three of his hearth guard and fought his Warlord as well while standing alone but then my warlord dieing at the end. The third round pitted me against Christian S and his Anglo-Danes in the Sacred Ground scenario. By this stage of the day I was tired, loosing steam, and poor die rolls did not help (my excuse “wink”) so smart play on Christians part had me and my Vikings return to the boats, conceding the game at the beginning of turn 5!
At this point most of the third round was complete and winners and losers then gathered to lick their wounds and cheer the winners. The Winners got to choose from a prize table in order of their placing in the tourney. Prizes went down to 6th place.
Chuck and Bill (me) present Roger Stilwell his 4 point Viking Warband for his placing first in the tourney.
Our rewards!
Everyone had loads of fun, all were praising the “Dogs” and Game Empire for putting the Tournament on, and many asking when the next one would be. As the last players drove away the remaining “Dogs” packed away the gear and retired across the way to Lucky Baldwin’s Pub for some well deserved drinks and a bit of food!
Since some have asked the next SAGA event will be announced shortly, it will take us to the land of the Crusades! The next expansion of the SAGA rule set the “Crescent and the Cross” We will be doing game days leading to a tourney……details to come…..
Bill Witthans
Please enjoy the gallery of the days fun! There are more pictures coming so check back soon.
Joe Naccio checks rules for clarification, Joe was a large contributor to the prize pool.
Producer of the “Combat Command” videos on youtube Jeff McArthur fights in the desert.
my first opponent James and his Skraelings….
“Dogs of War” members Galen Yee and Joe N. battle.
Dan and Christian during round 1.
Yes, girls play SAGA too! Sara won this round!
Chris hides his killer instinct behind a kind face, sorry I’m not falling for that!
Normans
A couple of “Dogs” share a moment……
The “Agony of Defeat”? or is he trying the Vulcan mind meld on his dice?
Ricks newest creation a turn record piece.
Tim awaits a ruling…..
SAGA filled most of the large gaming area.
Rick Abbo makes and sells some cool Fatigue markers
Mike and Chuck share a laff!
Some cool hills buit and donated by “yours Truly”
This great Viking army was built, painted and donated by Joe Naccio! Hats off to Joe!
Bill Stilwell took home some custom Fatigue marker stands.
I built the custom “Tote” board for the tourney so players could track the progress and see who they would fight next would. Numbered Magnetic shields were made for all players.
Christian had a very nicely painted Anglo Dane Warband and they can fight!
“I said hit me but not all at once”
Several Cross and Crescent warbands were fielded.
Chuck gets 2nd place and a custom Viking command stand from Joe Naccio
Game Empire store owner Chuck Robbins (left) and Bill Witthans (left) present 1st place finisher Rodger Stilwell a fully painted SAGA Viking Warband.
Even my lucky shirt and “Viking” jewelry didn’t help today!
So here they are all the Guidelines, Rules, Entry Form, and Schedule for the upcoming SAGA tourney at “Game Empire” in Pasadena, California. The Tournament is hosted by and run by the “Dogs of War” gaming group with support from Chuck Robbins and the Game Empire.
Forms are in both .Doc and PDF forms as well as being available at the Game Empire from Saturday, January 10th, 2015. This Tournament will focus on the original Dark Ages rule set but will allow “Warbands” from the Crescent and Cross” to be used. Details and rules are found in the Tournament Rules file. The Tournament is focused on “Fun and Fair play” with emphasis on getting the “newer” players into their first SAGA Tourney and a chance to so what they have learned. To this end we have purposely kept options limited for this FIRST tournament event. If this goes well with both attendance and play we will expand into the “Crescent and Cross” rule set with more options. Also remember there are still to “pre Tourney” gamedays on the 10th and 24th of January, 2014! Come meet everyone and “tuneup” your warband for battle!
This beautiful 4 point Viking Warband donated and painted by Joe Nacchio is up for grabs by the Tournament winner! Get yourself registered now and don’t miss your chance!
For the last several months the Los Angeles area based gaming club the “Dog’s of War” has in conjunction with the “Game Empire” been hosting a series of “SAGA” battles in the Dark Ages games. These games were both introductory games for new players and hard fought games with seasoned SAGA fans aimed at developing a larger player base in Southern California. Thanks to Chuck Robbins owner of the “Game Empire” for providing a great place to host these games, and tireless work by Chris Snell, Joe Nacchio, Dave Dandridge, and all the “Dogs of War” in putting on the events we are happy to announce the first “SAGA Tournament” in what we hope to be a continuing series of events. The Tournament is open to all and will be run with fun and good sportsmanship as the main themes. It will be held January, 31st, 2015, at “Games Empire” Pasadena, CA. Sign in’s starting at 10:30am and competition at noon!
The tournament rules, guidelines, and an Entry forms will be posted here shortly in both .doc and PDF forms. Entry forms will also be available at “Games Empire”
There will be prizes for, First, Second, and Third place, Best painted army (judged by all participants) Hard Luck award, Random draw, as well as “door prizes” for everyone who participates! Prizes provided by the “Dogs of War” and “Game Empire” SAGA is a game where anyone can win, the mighty fall, new leaders emerge, so fear not, come, play, enjoy.
Another prize up for grabs, a set of 3 low hills terrain perfect for SAGA and many other games handmade and donated by “Dog’s of War” member Bill Witthans (yep me!)
Our third outing at Game Empire was held last Saturday November, 29th, 2014 and was again well attended maxing out all 3 reserved tables for most of the day and into evening. We continue to introduce, teach, and polish our own skills in this highly addictive game that has very simple mechanics yet a very deep level of play and variety in the battles.
My Viking Bowmen turn the farmhouse into a “Blockhouse”
We had Bill, Chris, Dave, Joe, Derek, Dennis, Tim, Jen, Galen, Rick, Jeff, Frank, and a few others trading blows on the gaming table and had 3 tables going most of the time. I had a brand new Anglo-Dane Warband to try out and Dave Dandridge was happy to bring out “his” Welsh to give them a fight. It was a hard fight too, both sides playing very cagily, my Anglo-Danes doing a bit better up until the last turn when “Dave’s”? Welsh saw an opportunity and evened up the score! When the Victory points were counted up it was 11 to 11 and a DRAW, great game. New player to our group Derrick brought his Anglo-Saxons for the first time and took on my Vikings.
Tim Daun (Anglo Danes) takes on Dave Dandridge (Welsh), while Chris plays both sides…lol!
Derrick put on a good show for not having much experience with SAGA and his first time with Anglo-Saxons (a tough to master warband) lasting until turn 4 when my “Bezerker’s” got a hold of his “Warlord” out in the open, landing 11 blows, with only I retainer near enough to soak off causalities! 5 saves, 1 soaked off, and 1 resilience, left 4 hits….very dead Anglo-Saxon Warlord. Check the calendar section for info on the next gameday to be held.
Egyptian forces passed to the 
