"SAGA Crescent and Cross" Topic

I played in an introductory game of SAGA Crescent and Cross at Fall In. I really enjoyed it, but I have some questions:

- There were 3 simultaneous battles going and the crusaders one each easily. Is the game balanced?

- It seems that the crusaders get better over time, so if the two sides start 2 or 3 turns from contact is it a big benefit for the crusaders?

- We didn't have any horse archers, do they work well in the system?

- The pilgrims seem very powerful for the cost assuming you have the SAGA ability that buffs them up to warrior status. Is this unbalanced?

- Does the system work for scenarios or unequal forces?

Thanks,
Steve

There are multiple 'crusader' armies and multiple opponent army lists, all with different abilities. Makes a difference in the answer on balance and tactics.

My experience is that any army can beat any army with the right tactics. The system is designed for balanced point play. There are those who play 'scenarios' or unequal forces, but the system in my opinion is best at equal point games.

Good point, we played with 2 standard crusader armies and one Milites Christi against 2 Saracens and a Mutatawwi'a.

I've played 3 or 4 games of Crusaders vs Saracens and the Saracens have won each game. Both of the lists have a lot of random activity which impact game play. The Crusader starts pretty weak & needs 2-3 turns to build up. If they can't unlock their most powerful traits, they don't stand much of a chance. The Saracens can either hang out and shoot you up, or take a chance that the dice gods are with them and advance into combat.

Saracens need lots of archers to really take advantage of their battle board. I was somewhat limited on putting out 18 points of arabs so had to dip into my dervish. The Saracen battleboards are a little trickier and I think are harder to play, especially for first timers

I've been playing SAGA for about 3 years. I find the system extremely balanced. The studio tomahawk team play tests their rules exhaustively especially when it comes to faction on faction interactions. I have noticed, in the past, when new factions are introduced that for about the first 90 days there is some minor rumblings about this or that faction being imbalanced. However, once people figure out how to adjust to compensate their own faction weakness against the new faction, the rumblings dissipate. You must know your warband's capabilities and weaknesses. What I really like about the system is that the warband's feel right in how they should play historically.

I highly recommend the studio tomahawk forum to read more about faction tactics and their strengths and weaknesses.

link

On the issue of unequal forces…..

Yes it does work. At Fall In I ran a SAGA campaign game on Friday afternoon. We had multiple incidents of unequal forces facing each other. We even had a few two on one match ups. On at least two occasions the smaller force actually won the game.

LOL @ Queen Catherine. Indeed. It was interesting to watch those games where one side was the underdog and they were able to pull off the win.

With the Saracens you have to be careful to not commit your forces to direct melee with the crusaders until you have worn them out with missiles.