Saga, Age of the Vikings

Saga v2: Getting started with the Saracens

June 26 2018

Saracens, for Saga v2, Age of the Crusades by Studio Tomahawk

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The Saracen faction brings together the different Muslim peoples of the Middle East who had to face the Crusaders.
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 Equipment
 The Lord must have ascended.

The Guards are mounted, with or without composite arches.

Warriors can be either on foot or mounted; if tted, they can be tted with composite arches.

Finally, the Levées are equipped with arches.

The battle board

As you can see from the equipment options, Saracens can crush their opponent under re: almost all of their units can be
equipped with bows or composite bows. This is re ected on the combat board, with no less than three capacities reserved for
shooting units. Two of them are however reserved for those equipped with composite bows: you will therefore not be able to
rely solely on your Levies for shooting.

In order to make the most of these shooting capacities, you will need to place your units in an optimal way: Piercing shots
require that all the models in your unit are at C of the target, while Multiple shots will be more effective if your unit is at C by
several enemy units. You will therefore need to take advantage of the mobility of your riders equipped with composite bows.
However, beware of fatigue that can quickly accumulate on your units with these harassment tactics: it is tempting to have
your riders run around by throwing arrows and Saga abilities, but your board does not allow you to manage fatigue. , therefore,
unnecessary activations should be avoided. A banner on one of your mounted archers may be a good option. Having multiple
units of this type is also a good idea, in order to distribute the fatigue between them and ensure that you always have one in
the right place.

However, when you read the board you will nd that while these shooting abilities are useful, they will not allow you to
annihilate your opponent. You will need to nd the right combination between shooting to weaken your opponent and shock
that will allow you to achieve a clear and de nitive victory. Proof of this is the Brotherhood ability , which activates one of
your units for a shot and grants a bonus to subsequent units that engage the melee target.

The rest of the abilities bring strength to your squad in the form of various defensive bonuses. You can earn additional
defense dice with Indomitable for a small price, or use Call to the Prophet to have all your units bene t from the Resistance
rule for a full turn. In addition, Coordination will be particularly effective against an opponent who has a plethora of melee
saga abilities ready to be triggered: the more he rolls, the more attack and defense dice you will gain. This is a good deterrent!

Build your gang

To get the most out of the Buckwheat Plateau, you'll need to nd the right balance between shooting and melee. The
abundance of defensive capabilities on the board works in favor of the Guards, who will be able to stay alive longer. I
therefore offer you 3 Guard points, divided into two units of 6, one with bows and the other without. The unit with bows can
receive a banner, and will serve you during the rst turns to harass the opponent before retreating behind your lines thanks to
the Thoroughbred ability , which will also allow him to remove fatigue. The other unit will be the backbone of your
counterattack.

You will see when reading the board that it does not contain any Fire / Reaction ability. This means that your tape will be very
vulnerable to shooting, especially since it will be mostly mounted. It is therefore useful to take units on foot that can serve as
a screen: Warriors on foot, Levies with bows or mercenaries. First, let's start with a unit of Levies with arcs, which probably
best ll this role of screen thanks to their number. Plus, having extra shot is never useless.

You therefore have two points left, which you can spend on Warriors. One of these points can be mounted and equipped with
composite bows, in order to take over from your Archers Guards if they become exhausted or are destroyed. As for the other
unit, depending on your opponent, the terrain and the objective of the scenario, you can choose to play it on horseback or on
foot, or even on horseback with composite arcs. For my part, I prefer the option on foot, more solid and resistant to re, and
which will also be able to take care of eliminating the enemies entrenched in areas that your riders will not be able to reach.

Otherwise it may be possible to play a very populous roster, with 1 point of Levies and 5 points of Warriors, which could be
divided into two units with composite arcs, one climb and one on foot (for example, 4 units of 10, or two of 8 and two of 12).
Such a band will be relatively strong, but will be less maneuverable and will hit less hard overall than the previous one. Also
watch out for the generation of saga dice which can quickly collapse in the event of unlucky defense rolls!

Legends
The Legends accessible to the Saracens are two Heroes with opposite capacities.

The rst is the more famous of the two: it is about Saladin, whom his Christian adversaries found so honorable that they
nicknamed him "the Knight of Islam". His abilities have a mirror effect, applying both to his side and that of the opponent. You
can choose to have 1 additional Saga die roll for each band, or to prohibit charges and shots to both bands for one turn each.
Additionally, you have the ability to negate one enemy activation per turn, which in some cases can be an invaluable
advantage, especially over an opponent relying heavily on advanced activation abilities. He is therefore a character very
focused on game control, and which may be di cult to master: you will have to identify the most favorable moment to use his
powers, the one when they will penalize the enemy the most without hindering you further. measured. In short, an interesting
challenge.

The second is Kilij Arslan, the Turkish leader who defeated the peasant crusade. It forces you to recruit a band very focused
on shooting and harassment: your Guards are compulsorily equipped with composite bows, and your Warriors are
systematically replaced by horsemen of the steppe (who can as part of this band bene t from your Saga abilities). You will
therefore lose power in melee compared to a classic Saracen band, but all your units will be able to deliver a large amount of
shots; You will also gain mobility thanks to the special rules for oriental riders and the Continuous Harassment rule by Kilij
Arslan, which allows your units to maneuver even if it is not their rst activation of the turn.

Strengths and weaknesses

Strong points :

        Good shooting power.

        Good mobility thanks to the many horses and the Thoroughbred ability .

        Good defensive skills.

        Game focused on the placement of your units among themselves and in relation to the enemy.

Weak points :

        Few offensive capabilities.

        Few ways to deal with fatigue for a faction that is likely to generate a lot.
        Vulnerable to shooting.

have fun

Fab and Julie

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Tags: Age of the Crusades Saga v2 tomahawk studio

Julie and Fab

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