"Would more play SAGA if you had the dice?" Topic

So Elmo goes to Historicon looking for SAGA dice and finds none.

This has to be the most popular game for which you can't buy a critical component. Do you think more people would play if you could actually buy the dice?

Yes – when it first came out and people were raving about it, I looked into getting the rules and some starter armies – but then found out the special dice were sold out. So I put off the purchase (yes, I know you can either put stickers on regular dice or use a chart to convert the rolls on regular D6's to their Saga equivalents but I'd really rather have the dice). Also – they need more cavalry armies…

The dice aren't a critical or even important component, they're a money trap PT Barnum would have been proud of. Anyone who buys a set of those things has permanently forfeited their right to mock GW for selling servo-skull tape measures, etc.

Me too… felt a bit disappointed at dice price and unavailability, still looks a good game but went cold on it eventually.I have pre-ordered Dux Britanniarum by the Too Fat Lardies you can get all you need in one bundle..

Well, regardless of the ludicrous comment about the dice not being an imprtant component, I think GB have really messed up on it. Seriously, there must be a hundred companies who could churn out dice within a couple of weeks of ordering. People have been waiting for nearly 6 months now!

Jaz
6sided.net

Yup… Gave up with it as I wanted the dice.

Lost interest in it now…

I think the dice add something to the game, though obviously you do not need them.

I also think the high price point for the dice coupled with lack of availability have hurt Saga.

Yep, can't see myself dropping 20 bucks per dice set!

I dont get it

What. Is. So. Important. About. The. Stupid. DICE!

There are two in the old monopoly set to get you started.

Only watched a single game so far (so very early opinion) but I got quite bored watching people allocating points to actions/people etc. Very little action!

I'm with you tauwarlord196, I just don't get the obsession with the dice. The frackin dice are not critical! The game plays exactly the same with normal 6 siders. The oh so special symbols equate to a "1-3", "4-5", and a "6". There is a chart at the back of the book that shows this. It's not like it's some Masonic secret for crying out loud. If people will only play this excellent game if they can use the outrageously expensive dice (if GB could produce more, they'd make a mint apparently), well, I guess there is one born every minute.

Played my first game with 6 sided dice, no problem, just took a little time for the old brain to work out 1 to 3 equals axe,4&5 equals horse and 6 equals helmet. I bought 100 plain dice for six pounds and then bought 100 sheets of A4 labels for 7 pounds, downloaded the dice emblems from GB's site printed them out at work (ahemmm) so 13 quid for lots of SAGA dice.
Benvartok, yes this is not really a spectators game as a lot of what goes on is in the grey matter of the players, so get playing!!

I wanted the dice as they looked pretty… Not because they were critical.

I like dice. Why I have the FOW ones…

What lost me interest was also that the game didnt look that exciting. But I will give it ago soon.

The expense puts me off, though I agree the visual adds to the game experience. I also agree that turf must be literally a dozen other dice mfg. companies that could meet the demand. It is absolutely absurd that GB/Tomahawk has put up with this scale of foolishness from their supplier.

I've played the game with and without the dice. If you don't have the dice translating your results to the battleboards, which use the special dice, is a pain in the arse, but you get used to it. I don't agree that the game flows or plays equally well using regular dice, and the special dice really add something. I have to agree that the ongoing "situation" with the dice, which has been a problem for what, a year? more? is quite a negative and might have been ok at first, but to have it still be a problem a year later is dropping the ball. The constant excuse that you don't need to dice to play is a deflection from the real issue.

I made copy of the dice artwork on to sticky labels and stuck them on reg dice.
Just saying'
Clif

Bede19025 wonders why Mr. Elmo always speaks in the third-person…….

They have certainly made every effort to make sure that the dice issues are not going to impede your ability to play the game. Between free labels and the chart, the dice should not be the stopping point for entry into the game.

There are scads of ways to get blank dice cheap and if done with a little care, dice made using stickers look fine. I bought dice on the cheap off EBay and found a sale on labels at the local Staples, so for less than the price of one set, I have 5 sets and counting.

I can understand not seeing what the fuss is about from just watching the game, but I'd say that applies to almost any skirmish scale game. The gameplay there is in the finer control of the action and there is less of the spectacle associated with mass battles.

For that matter, I find all wargaming to be a lousy spectator sport and always encourage interested people to dive in and play rather than watch.

@ Chief Lackey Rich:

Hey, those servo skull tape measures are kinda cool – and when you measure something it looks like your servo skull is sticking it's tongue out at your opponent – which is rather fun too.

I had heard of SAGA before, but never bothered to look into it.
So, it needs special dice? What are they, D17?

To answer the OP, probably not.

Played my first game with 6 sided dice, no problem, just took a little time for the old brain to work out 1 to 3 equals axe,4&5 equals horse and 6 equals helmet.

Trouble is, there is already a lot to think about in this game, so you really don't want to have to also work out extra stuff like this.

I'm not interested if the dice don't come with the game. I've already got Strandhogg and am also thinking about getting a copy of Pig Wars. What else could one need?

I can understand not seeing what the fuss is about from just watching the game, but I'd say that applies to almost any skirmish scale game. The gameplay there is in the finer control of the action and there is less of the spectacle associated with mass battles.

For that matter, I find all wargaming to be a lousy spectator sport and always encourage interested people to dive in and play rather than watch.

I agree. You really cannot get any impression of how good a game is from watching people playing it.

I also think the high price point for the dice coupled with lack of availability have hurt Saga.

Given that you can make the dice without too much difficulty, and quite cheaply, I personally think it is the cost of the rulebook itself that is more of an issue.

What if you COULD get the dice – like you could order them on line and purchase them right now – here: link

Would you jump on the SAGA bandwagon and play the game?

No…the game is obviously following the GW/BF business model designed to separate us from our money. Expensive lists, and expensive dice.

I'd play a game if someone else bought the stuff and put it on.

Watching a wargame is like watching golf on tv,except with less action.What I dont understand is how my wife can think that baseball is boring.

So far as the dice are concerned,buy 'em if ya want 'em. Its no more silly than buying the FOW dice,or the special card decks for Maurice(you dont hear anybody complaining about those,even though there's free ones on the net).

Craft stores have wooden blocks. Print out the symbols and paste them on the blocks. DONE!

Just make sure the blocks are cube shaped.

Real tired of the dice bitching! You'd find an excuse not to play even if there were free bags of dice on every street corner.

Real tired of the dice bitching! You'd find an excuse not to play even if there were free bags of dice on every street corner.

Agreed. For a hobby that's as much about "using your hands" to paint and model I am quite surprised at how many so called wargamers lack the simple ability to print off, cut out & attach paper designs to blank dice ..

I had five people say this to me in one and a half days in the dealer hall at Historicon. One of the guys bought a bunch of stuff off of me too so I think he was fairly serious about it.

Would you jump on the SAGA bandwagon and play the game?

I HAVE a warband but nobody else will buy in since you can't buy dice.

So, what should my dust gathering warband do?

I printed labels and stuck them onto blank indented dice from here:

blankdice.co.uk

I got 100 blank dice for less than the price of 2 Saga sets, shipped to the US. I'd still like to get a set of the real dice for my 'main' warband, but this way we can play 6 players at a time now.

Rich

I am a fan of the game. I have dice and I like the flavor it adds but enjoyed the game before I got a hold of the dice.
I guess it makes sense since I am running demo games at Historicon tomorrow and brought enough troops for 12 players

DIY.

what does it all mean?

Sorry Cardinal – do you want to know what the symbols mean in the game?

I playtested and still play the game a LOT, playtest new factions and play in tournaments etc and NEVER use Gripping Beast dice. Crazy to think you need the dice to play!

I learned you can also paste over the battle boards with pips

I may do that.

DIY, I bought a bag of blank dice especially for these kind of situations.

I did buy a set of dice at a show, but they had a great discount at the time at about half the UK price.

At the SAGA tournament at Historicon, 2/3 of my games were against players with good old d6s. They seemed to be enjoying themselves just fine.