7th May 2019
This is a brief overview of my first impressions of the Saga rules and supplement ‘The Age of Magic’ (Gripping Beast and Tomahawk Studios). Last weekend was my first foray into this game system and if the game that was played is anything to go by I think this is set of rules that I will be using a lot for some time to come.
From my first few glances through the rule book the basic Saga system looks really good. Add in creatures, monsters and flying machines and you start to get a really good mix of units and a really interesting game of fantasy combat. Something that I don’t think has been around for a long time.
What’s different to normal games of Saga? Well, Age of Magic adds more options when choosing units for your Warband. In addition to the normal choices you can now take Sorcerers, Lieutenants, Creatures, Monsters and War-Machines.
Also In Age of Magic a Warband is made up of eight points worth of units. Eight points for a Warband might not sound like a lot, but when each unit only costs one point each you start to spend your time more tactically deciding which type to take and less time number crunching, as is the case in other rules systems.
Age of Magic is a supplement to the Saga rules so the game mechanics is the same more or less as a normal game of Saga. To give a basic overview, it works as follows. Most of your units generate activation dice which you can use to activate your units to move or fight etc. by comparing them to the corresponding battle board. The battle boards allow activation dice to be combined in to Orders that can be issued to your units. However you need to be careful and think tactically as you only have so many dice and some orders require more than others.
Movement is easy as pre-made measuring sticks are used for measuring distances. One of which can be seen above.
Combat is also relatively easy. Each unit has a level of aggression which gives the number attacks, and a corresponding armour rating. The attack roll need to exceed the enemies armour rating to inflict casualties..
I think the Fatigue system works well in Saga. Basically if you try to do too much in your turn, your units will start to accumulate fatigue, and if your not careful they’ll become exhausted. If that happens they’re out of action until you can rest them. Not good if they then get charged!” What I really liked about Fatigue is that the opposing player can use them against you, either by reducing the amount of hits you have against him, or stopping you performing an action altogether!
The magic system is interesting and fun to play, and like most aspects of these rules there is very much a tactical feel to them. You don’t get many dice to cast spells with, so you need to chose wisely.
What’s also nice is that races previously penalised for magic use in other rule systems are just as adept as any other. For instance, the Dwarven Rune Priest above left.
What I think is another big advantage with this system is that you don’t need hundreds of figures to play it. Nor are you tied in to any one manufacturer. For those who don’t have hordes of fantasy figures gathering dust its is relatively cheap to build a Warband either new or secondhand.
I for one, am certainly looking forward to my next game of Saga, Age of Magic!
Williton Gamers 