"SAGA No Bad Reviews?" Topic

So far everything I've read here has been very positive towards SAGA. Is it really that great of a game? I am very tempted to spend the $40 USD to buy the book.

I'm a fan and am hooked. The game's mechanics allow only one on one unit combat unless a warlord charges and brings a nearby unit with him. There are no flanks or rear charges so there is no weak side to hit on your opponent. It's a straight forward dark age bashing game. I love it!

I wasn't impressed by the rule book's construction and size. You're not getting that much for $40. USD I enjoy using the dice. At least a person doesn't have to buy more than one set for a faction.

So there you go. If you want large(ish) shield wall tactics with flanking units this game doesn't have it. At my local FLGS a group of us are trying to turn it into the historical wargamer's pickup game. Four point games go by quick after you learn your faction's battle board.

The command board based on the dice adds some interesting twists to the game. My gaming group has only played a few games but we enjoyed them. We just need to add some players in the other factions.

I played it a couple of times and thought it was good knock down fun.
But that was it. There was no way to expand things within the basic rules. I imagine I'd get bored with it if i played many more times.

If you look around you'll find a few dings on the game here and there. Number 1 is usually the cost: the book is pretty skimpy for the $40 USD price tag and the Saga dice sold specifically for the game are really pricey. Others find the battleboard and Saga dice mechanism to be 'gamey'. The rules also cater to the vision of the dark ages as told in the sagas and tales and not the dark ages as told by historians and archeologists. There is also a point system and ready made scenarios, which seems to automatically make some people's skin crawl. There may be a couple of others, but those are the main ones I've seen

I personally have really enjoyed the game and find these quibbles to be very minor. I have had no problems with the price and consider it a fair price for what is obviously a well researched set of rules. The mechanisms are clever and subtle to me rather than gamey. The heroic nature is something that appeals to me and certainly something they are up front about. It would be very easy to tweak those to a more historical feel I think.

My take…

I've also seen a number of negative reviews. I think most were on The Guild. The few bad comments have not been nearly enough to dim my interest in the rules, though!

whats SAGA, you got a linky?

The price is a bit high, but I'm interested in seeing quality products made by companies I like to cover periods I'd like to game, so I'll pony up the cost to get what I want!

Taken off at my club, cracking game.

BCantwell, maybe that's why they're called "Saga."

whats SAGA, you got a linky?,

I heard ya!

link

The price might be a bit steep, but you get one of the most innovative systems since many, many years for it. The battle boards create "national characteristics" in a simple but effective way and it is just as much a game of wits as it is of armies. If you do not want to invest in the dice, their forum provides you with the stickers, so you can use cheap blank dice and invest some time to cut costs or simply use D6, though I hasten to state that the "special" dice (be it home made or purchased) add to the flavour. I highly recommend the system and look forward to their Crusader & Arthurian variants!

I love the game. It's refreshing to play from the larger games out on the market. You don't find all battles the same as long as you play the scenarios. I've had some epic games from them.

Ok, the rules at $40 USD might seem steep, but remember its not GW printing thousands of them. Gripping Beast is only a small/medium sized business and its 4 card battle boards and a rulebook. I expect they'll have to pay a large percentage up front. As for the dice I made some before I bought a set. My made ones roll better than my GB made Viking ones.

So far we play Saga as a filler game between or before the planned campaign games. A force is pretty easy to put together. It's only about 50 figures and you can mix and match from a lot of manufacturers if you want more variety.

Got me hooked. Simple mechanics but kept interesting by the use of the battle board I was put off by the cost until played it. Only game that I haven't felt the need to 'tweak' for a very long time.
Negatives – or at least things people whine about, the dice (easy fix, use d6 and learn what symbol it represents which is easy or download the stickers and put them on) , the fact the game mainly kills everything off each time. This seems to annoy people

It is very firmly a GAME but with each force feeling very different it is a damn fine game!

Since some of the special dice are out of stock for the moment and if you own (or can get hold of) a set of Heroscape dice, they will do just as wel since they have also the 3-2-1 symbols configuration. Just photocopy your battle boards and glue some square paper bits with a skull, shield and one blank over the printed dice symbols. There are plenty of skulls and shield pictures you can download, so this shouldn't be much of a problem. Use Corel Draw or even Word, both will work.

Hi all,

I have made my own saga dice, have a look here – link

Saga may well be a great game, but im still not spending that kind of money on….dice?!?!?

Steve

I haven't got the rules because of the price – were they cheaper I might have gotten a copy to use with my 25mm LOTR figures.

That said, I have read "complaints" that there are no rules for "typical" Dark Age stuff like looting.

My personal worry is that the battleboards may lead to metagaming, but I guess I won't know till I try them.

We have only had one game, but thoroughly enjoyed it. Very good fun and the Battle Boards really do add an element of strategy/resource allocation that elevates the game above a bog standard set of skirmish rules.

As for the dice, I have no intention of buying the special ones as normal 6 sided dice work perfectly well.

Cons:
It's very much a game rather than trying to be accurate simulation.
The rules are relatively expensive, although when you think of the amount most wargamers spend on figures it isn't much.
The saga dice are very expensive, but you can easily make your own using blank dice (£2.50 for 8 blank dice) and the symbols downloaded from the Saga website, or just use d6.

Pros:
It is a very good game indeed; the dice allocation mechanics have been widely used in recent board games, but not in miniature games.
The different characters of the various factions, plus the different scenarios, plus the various options like heroes and Mercenaries all serve to keep the game pretty fresh. There is a *lot* of replay value, and the Northern Fury expansion will add to that.
All in all, the most innovative and enjoyable miniature skirmish game I've played for a very long time.

Lazyworker wrote

I wasn't impressed by the rule book's construction and size. You're not getting that much for $40. USD USD I enjoy using the dice. At least a person doesn't have to buy more than one set for a faction.

Maybe they have to pay more for printing cause the LAZYWORKER at the plant cost them more…lol! just kidding, but Really $40 USD? what do you think you should be able to buy nowadays for $40 USD, Hell a movie and drinks/popcorn for a friend and you which last 2 hours cost more. People cant write decent good looking rules for less and stay in business, try it, I have.

I like it a lot. It has some great features going for it:

o Very easy to teach to new players
o Army design system removes gamey point fiddling
o Battle boards and faction rules really do make each army different.
o Low figure count needed.
o Rules are written which a sense of humor that makes them a lot of fun to read.
o It's not a bucket of dice game. You have to think to win.

Hmm, I think this thread has just about sold me…

I'm sold!

Yeah it's my favorite skirmish game at the moment. It's straightforward in its basica, but the different battleboards have enough variation to keep me coming back.

I'm also working on a campaign system for it.