Stone Bridge: A Saga Tournament

One evening long, long ago (well, actually last Thursday) a group of players of the Dark Age variety gathered at Deeside Defenders, and proceeded to poke and bash each other’s armies with pointy sticks and big axes until a winner was declared. This is not their story, that is too long and I haven’t time to write it. But there are some snippets of information, and a few pictures.

The 8 participants and the rules

The Vikings were best represented with 3 lots of vanilla Norse (Chris, Ian and Red), and one of Jommsvikings (Pete), the balance was made up by my Welsh, Luke’s Irish, Andy’s Anglo Danish, and finally Michael’s Normans. Although you could change the composition of your warband between games as far as I know nobody did.

We played 3 rounds during a 4 hour evening, with one game per player in each round, and 4 point Saga warbands being used. Rather than worry about pitting best against the best the tables were set side by side and when one round was finished everyone moved one chair to the left to meet a new opponent and a different battlefield. Points were awarded as follows: 3 for a win, 2 for a draw, 1 for a defeat, and a bonus 1 point if you completely wiped out the opposition (which nobody managed, although a new came close).

Round 1:

The match ups for the first round of games was drawn from a hat; literally – Red doing the honours from a lovely Indiana Jones wannaby. A slight delay preceded this as we ascertained that Aidan and David were unavailable to us, and we picked up Red from an obscure train station. Once hostilities began Ian’s first ever game of Saga went well; pinching the points from a bemused looking Red, while Michael and Andy also got off to good winning starts. My meeting with Chris’ Vikings was notable for the Vikings wish to not move at all, and my Welsh surrounded and picked them off amidst much smut, most of which surrounded the berserkers. Shameful.

Player	Result	Player
Ian	3 – 1	Red
Luke	1 – 3	Andy
Chris	1 – 3	Rick
Pete	1 - 3	Michael

Round 2:

A round noted for controversy as two games over ran, with Pete’s Jommsvikings getting their victory over Andy’s Danes, while in the battle of the Vikings Red defeated Chris by virtue of having an extra turn. Organisers fault unfortunately, and something I’ll control better in future. To compensate Chris I have retrospectively awarded an addition two points to his Vikings for a 3-3 result.

On other tables Luke’s Irish came off significantly worse against the javelin and bow-armed Welsh, who pin-cushioned them as they attempted to claim the river crossings, and the Normans finished with one model – Michael’s warlord – which was still enough to defeat Ian’s severely wounded Viking warlord in The Challenger.

Player	Result	Player
Ian	1 - 3	Michael
Luke	1 – 3	Rick
Chris	*3 – 3	Red
Pete	3 -1	Andy

Round 3:

The business end of the tournament, and another attempted river crossing saw both Michael’s Normans and Chris’ Vikings almost wiped out, with the Norman warlord again claiming the spoils by himself by being on the right side of the river. Pete’s Jommsvikings ended as they began; with a Clash of Warlords scenario and a defeat against an elusive Welsh who lost barely any men. Luke fell afoul of Red’s shield wall, and finally Andy managed to mug Ian’s warlord for a quick win, and it was all over.

Player	Result	Player
Ian	1 - 3	Andy
Luke	1 – 3	Red
Chris	1 – 3	Michael
Pete	1 - 3	Rick

Finishing Table & Summing Up:

Position	Player	Faction	Points
1.	Michael	Normans	9
2.	Rick	Welsh	9
3.	Andy	Anglo Danish	7
4.	Red	Vikings	7
5.	Pete	Jommsvikings	5
6.	Ian	Vikings	5
7.	Chris	Vikings	5
8.	Luke	Irish	3

While it was intended that any warbands that ended on the same points would use the immortal rock, paper, scissors to decide who finished higher, when the time came a swift exit to catch a train was required. So instead I have ordered it in terms of beard quality. This meant that Michael’s wispy whiskers trounced my stubble, while Luke was probably lucky not to be hounded from the building due to his fresh faced appearance.

Winner: Michael & the Normans

So it is over, the first ever Saga tournament and it appears to have been a success. Plenty of 1 vs 1 games were played, to the confusion of a few players who were used to only participating in the Feast of Crows multi-player version. Some stuck with the same scenario every game, others chopped and changed – personally I enjoyed playing 3 different scenarios against 3 very different opponents. It was all played in good humour, and in a relaxed atmosphere which brought sentiments concerning day-long tournaments in the same format.