Anglo-Danes vs. Vikings - SAGA AAR, Part 2

For our second game, Curt and I modified the scenario 'The Challenge' into a knockdown, slobber-knocker slugfest between our two warbands.

(When I say 'modified', I mean that we didn't realize that the Warlords could break off from their duel in the center of the field, and that some of the Warlord's rules, like Resilience, still applied. So when Curt realized that his Warlord killing mine would end the game, we decided to keep going until one side was completely wiped out.)

Curt once again had the Vikings, and I the Anglo-Danes.

I placed the terrain myself, as I wanted the scenery to be a little nicer than our last game.

The terrain I placed was some fields on the left surrounded by small stone walls, a couple rocky ground formations in the middle, a small marsh to the right, and a road running down the middle.

  

The two sides lined up (Curt's Vikings have their backs to the camera). The Rocky formation broke my line, forcing my Dane-axe Hearthguard to advance separately. 

 

While our two warlords clobbered each other in the center of the table, we found ourselves spending most of our SAGA dice getting our warbands across the field. The position of the rocky terrain forced me to hold a unit of Warriors back from the melee (which turned out to be a blessing in disguise).

 

My old Warlord wasn't so lucky, and his younger, faster Viking counterpart eventually cut him down. However, he was left with only two wounds left (down from a beginning total of 12!) and the rest of my Warband performed spectacularly, ripping into Curt's shieldwall like a sharp sword through wet paper. 

 

After a few more rounds of fighting, I was definitely in the lead when it came to troops - Curt had lost his Berserkers, and both his Warlord and a unit of Warriors had taken a lot of hits. I had lost a unit of Hearthguard, and a unit of Warriors on the right had been bloodied, but I still had two units fresh and ready to fight. 

To my left my Dane-axe Hearthguard faced off against Curt's last untouched unit. 

A couple turns later, tit had been given for tat and both units were down to half-strength, but my Hearthguard had consistently been able to push Curt's warriors back. 

Back on the right, my two Warrior units faced of against Curt's bloodied Warlord and the last of his Hearthguard. 

 

A lone Danish Hearthguard stands, with the rest of his comrades killed. At least they took out Curt's Warriors!

And finally, Curt's Warlord falls. It was a bloody fight, with Curt's warband staying until the last man - I only had 5 men left myself! 

This was a fun game, and although we strayed from the rules a bit, it was definitely a better learning experience as we practiced the various Movement, Combat, and Fatigue mechanics that make SAGA an enjoyable, tight ruleset.