Playing a 10 point Saga game

I reckon that the most played game for me last year was Saga. We must have tried half the factions and all the scenarios several times over, even a small campaign, all at the recommended six points level. It gives a good game with plenty of decisions to be made, but inevitably there comes a time when something new is needed.

In the back of the Saga book there is a one page suggestion for increasing the number of points played. Eight points didn't seem much different to six points, so we tried a ten point battle. My vikings have been hired by a Saxon lord to fight against a rival - so most of my collection against (about half of?) Matt's collection. In the picture, my vikings and Saxons are on the left in the distance, the nearer figures are Matt's Saxon hoard. And a hoard it was too, the Saxons really benefited from the numbers a large game allows, easily repelling the usurper and his mercenaries.

The game has more of a small battle feel to it, rather than a large skirmish. The extra points tend to be used to boost numbers per unit, rather than number of units. The Saga dice still never seem to be enough, so it can be a little frustrating as first one wing acts, then the centre, then the other wing, but overall it seems to work quite well. I think we might move on to twelve point battles next - after all, this is just one extra warlord and maybe his bodyguard, so it's not necessarily a huge number of extra troops, but the extra warlord should give extra control (and thus more action) on the battlefield.

There's plenty still to explore in Saga. I realise that there's a new expansion due out soon, but I am keen to try it out at this slightly larger scale, using Lord of the Rings forces, as well as our dark age armies. We are also planning on trying Hail Caesar, looking forward to starting a whole new gaming experience, though the masses of rules on movement seems particularly daunting after the simplicity of moving skirmish forces around. I'm sure it will be worth the effort and hopefully will have a battle report in the not too distant future.