A Week in Review – Gaming

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First experiences with Sage Age of Magic.

Last weekend I was lucky enough to get in a few games of Saga Age of Magic.
The first was an 8 point game at my local club, Nunawading Wargaming Association. Brought along my old WHFB Beastmen and Dwarves ready to play as The Horde and Masters of the Underneath, respectively.
The Beastmen Horde charged forward, their extra
movement of the war chariots catching the
Master of Underneath (Dwarves) by surprise
The 8 point composition of the two warbands was based on what looked cool and trialling out how the units would work. Each warband had a sorcerer, with a Minotaur warlord (counting as warlord mounted on beast) leading the Beastmen, and Dwarves choosing to be shooting heavy including a static and flying war machines.

A bloody and fun affair which came down to the final turn.  The Beastmen rushed to an early lead, with the Dwarves clawing their way back only to succumb at the end.

Major learning: You need lots and lots of fatigue markers in Age of Magic.

The second game was a small skirmish between two 4 point warbands.
The Chaos Horde warband face off against the
Dwarven Masters of the Underneath

My old WHFB Chaos playing as Hordes and the Dwarves as Masters of the Underneath again.

The first two turns were are fairly static as both sides built their battle boards and manoeuvred where they could.

Then the Dwarves Gyrocopter (flying war- machine) sniped at the mounted heathguard and caused two casualties.

Twelve warrior dwarves charge a behemoth (Shaggoth) and
are beaten off after the behemoth inflicted 11 hits to 8.  The
dwarves were supported by a full battle board and the
behemoth with magical support

This signalled all out war and the horde rushed forward inviting the dwarves to hold or flee. Sitting comfortably outside of M, the Chaos horde felt confident in their charge next turn.

Seizing the bull by the horns, the Dwarves surprised with Shaggoth (behemoth) by charging with the aid of some magic. The resulting melee was devastating

The Chaos warlord on Daemonic Steed slams into the
Dwarven warlord only to be undone

in its intensity with both sides striking in a berserk rage. The Dwarves were beaten back after losing five comrades, but left the Shaggoth exhausted and vulnerable.

OK playing 4 points means that you loose Saga dice really quickly desperation kicks in with, ‘Can I cause more damage before I am undone?’
The Shaggoth died in the next combat and the two warlords ended up one-on-one due to Pride with the Chaos warlord on Mounted Beast charging into the Dwarf warlord and losing.  Saga is a great game and sometimes you just have to accept that the dice gods have got it in for you. Revenge was sweet with the warriors finishing off the Dwarf warlord, but at that point it was basically game over with the remaining Chaos forces overwhelming the Dwarves in the final turn.
My final Saga Age of Magic game was another small one. This time 5 points worth, with the Lords of the Wild using Wood Elves and Circle of Orboros figures against Lords of the Otherworld against Tzeentch Daemons.
A large unit of warriors take cover in a ruin supported by
flying creatures, Sorcerer, A Scourge, and Warlord on a
flying beast
Like the the previous games this was a bloody and brutal affair with fierce combats and more importantly some impressive shooting.
The two warlords go head to head, but with neither able to
land the final blow
The Lords of the Wild battleboard really support shooting with both the Heathguard and Warrior units pushing all the Otherworld resilient units to exhaustion and finishing them off.
Having lots of flying troops lead to lots of movement, but again the limited number of Saga dice limiting options.Another close run game which literally drew to a close as darkness fell on our board. A narrow win to the Wood Elves with their warlord and warriors surviving, with the Otherworld beaten off with on the sorcerer and a few warriors left.

Looking forward to 8 point and employing each factions Sacred Ground soon.

2nd major learning:  Choosing the right spells to match the battleboard and warband composition is really important.  Combined the synergies transform the effectiveness of our units.