0Last week I took the plunge and did 2 new things. The first was to go to a wargaming club, the second was to play the Viking Age skirmish game, Saga.
I was nervous going to a new club. My last experience wasn’t overwhelmingly postive. Too much historical one upmanship, argy-bargy over the rules and a closed-shop mentality reminded me of why I stopped playing tabletop wargames in the first place. It wasn’t everyone, but significant enough to make the 100 minute round-trip on a Saturday afternoon unpalatable.
With Chris channelling his efforts in to another project at present, games are at a premium and I have to admit to casting a covetous eye over Saga (usefully reviewed here). If I wanted to play a new game and – perhaps – get a few more FoW games in, attending a club seemed a good option. A few enquiries later and all roads pointed in the direction of Sudbury and District Wargames Club.
Courtesy of their online forum, I was made to feel very welcome when I arrived and, with introductions over, was quickly invited to watch and then participate in a game of Saga.The innovative game system and speed of play were a massive attraction and, after my first win, I have to admit to being hooked.
Trouble is, branching out into a new period is costly and has taken me way out of my comfort zone. My first problem was getting hold of a copy of the bleedin’ game. Massively popular, trying to find copies of the Saga dice, a starter warband (Normans? What does this say anything about me?) and a rulebook at a competitive price has been challenging to say the least. If I bought direct from the suppliers, Gripping Beast (my preferred option), I would have been charged 10% of the price of my total order for postage and packing (around £7, ridiculous!). And they didn’t have any of the dice…
I thought I’d sourced a great deal at Triple Helix Games with 20% off the RRP and free P&P. This proved illusory as, like some other providers, what was posted in the virtual shop-window did not match the stock at the warehouse. 1 week on from being charged aand I’m still trying to get my money back after being offered a refund despite assurances of high levels of customer service (they never answer the phone during their stated opening hours – maddening!). I was finally able to get a copy of the rulebook and my Normans through the excellent Firestorm Games in Cardiff, but only after ringing up on the off-chance to see if they had any of the starter steps in-stock as none were listed on their website.
With most things eventually arriving over the weekend, I was faced with 30 little lead faces looking up at me from my workspace. Now, don’t get me started on painting chainmail, spears, horses(!), colour schemes, paints and historical accuracy. That’s a whole different winge. Suffice to say and as my wife will wearily testify to, you can expect to hear a lot more about Saga as I 1066 my way through a whole different era…
I’ve just done the self same thing with saga. Check out my? blog for pictures of unpainted vikings
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http://lonewolvesclub.blogspot.co.uk/
Nice one. Glad I’m not the only one desparately trying to base and paint all to a quicksmart deadline.
I love deadlines. I love the whooshing noise they make as they go by….
Me like Saga. Me like Berserker attack.
I went with Plastic Vikings at first. No horses to paint.
http://dagamerstable.blogspot.com.au/search/label/Saga
It is a great game that does not take a big long drawn out Saga to have a clear result. I think Saga is perhaps a great future direction for gaming in general. Simple but complex in it’s application. A lot of freedom for basing and figures. WYSIWYG is not required. Lets you spend more time thinking about painting cool looking miniatures. Looking forward to seeing your results.
cheers
Lovely looking figures. I really like the pallete you’ve used. This is osmething I’m strugglingwith at present. What colour paints did you use?
I’d love to dabble in another period/ruleset but can’t help feeling I’ve enough stuff to do without daydreaming also about Borodino in 28mm or Knights Templars and/orTeutonic Knights – What period does Saga cover up to?
The Viking Age, roughly the 8th – 11th centuries AD – and a little later if you lived in Ireland or Scotland…
Really interested in what you’ve had to say for a couple of reasons.
The appeal of Saga which seems to be gaining a following, and meeting like-minded individuals to play the games . As solely a (bad) FoW gamer I am drawn to Saga but I’ve been put off opening up my wallet for fear of having a band of Vikings gathering dust on the shelf! Interested to see how your experience of Sudbury Wargames club develops as this is close to where I live.
Hi Karl – I can recommend Sudbury Wargames club, nice bunch of chaps, committed to the hobby.
Take the plunge! I did. I’m on my second hour of cleaning up my Normans. Got to get them based and undercoated for a game on Friday night!
Thanks Justin. Just been having a look at their forum – May well be tempted, and I know that my ‘local’ model shop in Harlow stocks some Saga stuff that I will check out next time I go and play FoW there.
I’ve been put off the idea of a Wargames club previously due the reputation that ‘playing soldiers’ is taken far too seriously by some folk.
Heh, I know what you mean. It does rather spoil things when folk take it too seriously. Must attract a certain sort
What’s the shop in Harlow?
Marquee Models – Always found them very helpful and they run a once a month FoW evening which I try to get to with varying degrees of success as a 50 min trip from where I live (just outside Braintree). Currently weighing up whether to embark on a SAGA ‘saga’ or a new Tank destroyer company (the choices…)
Hey Justin, good luck on the new game, if you’re for norman inspiration Mike Haughts blog has got a load going on http://scarybiscuitsstudios.blogspot.co.uk/2012_04_01_archive.html
Thanks Si, nice to see some other folk’s Normans.