Mugginns' Road to AdeptiCon: SAGA

AdeptiCon is just a short two months away, and I'm planning to be there again for my 12th year. I first attended in 2013 and we missed a few due to COVID. This will be the second year that I'm taking my son, Charlie, who is helping me out and this year is playing in an event with me. Charlie is 13 and in the 8th grade.

We'll be running a 20 player The Silver Bayonet event on Thursday, two participation games of Sharp Practice on Friday (set in the US-Mexican War), and then playing in the SAGA Team Tournament on Saturday and the Viking Age Tournament on Sunday. We're in the process of preparing for the Team Tournament right now. I really don't have anything to paint for AdeptiCon unless I want to change something, so I'm doing better than every other year I've attended.

Your author at AdeptiCon 2016 SAGA Grand Melee. Credit: Michael O "mugginns"

Our Experience in SAGA

I first played SAGA in 2016, when my buddy Will and I played in the Team Tournament at AdeptiCon. I painted four points of Vikings and he brought four points of Pagan Rus. We had a great time, playing in 2017 as well. We forgot our SAGA sticks and fatigue markers in Michigan both years, but folks helped us out. I've also played in the Sunday SAGA tournaments for a few years now since coming back to the game.

Our first team tournament force, 4 points of Vikings and 4 points of Pagan Rus.

I definitely can't claim to be an expert, so we're planning on playing practice games each week - two if we can get them in. We don't have a ton of things on our calendar until March so we have plenty of time. We'll be playing some of the scenarios from the Rise of the Northmen Sunday tournament as well as some of the previous years' tournament scenarios. Charlie has been playing games with me for years - mostly Walking Dead, Zombicide, Age of Sigmar, The Silver Bayonet, and a few others. This is the first tournament he'll play in, so we want to make sure we're prepared!

I don't really use many of these minis anymore - I painted a bunch of Gripping Beast plastics for Vikings now. Credit: Michael O "mugginns"

When I played in SAGA before, I had played Vikings. I had a bunch of Gripping Beast, Footsore, Black Tree and Bad Squiddo pewter guys. I had used wire spears that are widely available in historical spaces for a long time, but holy hell I got tired of stabbing myself with them, as they're super sharp. I also didn't appreciate how I had based those minis, so I mostly moved on from them.

Charlie's Viking warband - mostly plastic guys and some pewter hearthguard. Credit: Michael O "mugginns"

The Events We're Playing In

Last year Charlie helped me run The Silver Bayonet, a bunch of participation games on Friday and Saturday, and then watched while I played Sunday's Viking age tournament. This'll be different for us because I've mostly had experience with Age of Vikings and Age of Invasions - the Team Tournament will have Age of Invasions, Age of Vikings, Age of Crusades, Age of Hannibal, Age of Alexander, and Age of Chivalry. I haven't played against most of those factions yet - so it'll be interesting to see how that works. There are no banners, legendary units, or mercs in this event.

My Norse-Gael warband. Credit: Michael O "mugginns"

Our two factions, Vikings and Norse-Gaels, are almost entirely offensive. I am going to try something a little different with some tough hearthguard so we'll see how that goes. Charlie is going to run forward and hopefully get the dice to pop Ragnarok once or twice during the tournament - that would make our offensive output sky high.

The team tournament seems like it'll be a great experience, as they have been in the past. There is are special rules for bringing a champion and a bard for your army, with neat rules that facilitate how you play the scenarios. We already have a champion and I'm painting a bard for us.

The first stage of our display board. Credit: Michael O "mugginns"

We're working on a display board that will be a small river with a boat in it that our warbands are using to go out and raid. I'm building it on a little tackboard with cork and water effects. The boat is from Gripping Beast - I'm really excited to have it painted and ready to use as terrain in future matches.

Raising Kids in This Economy

Parenting is different now from when I was a kid, as an elder millennial (I'm 43). We didn't even have the internet until I was in middle school, and it was dial-up. We didn't have smart phones until I was out of college. Gathering your kids' focus and attention from screens is incredibly difficult these days. Keeping them busy and active and not just couch-rotting while watching YouTube shorts is so hard.

Involving my kids in the hobbies I like and participating in the ones they like is a major goal for me this year. I coach and referee their soccer games, my wife does Girl Scouts with my daughter, we support them in robotics and Honor Society. It's hard though - screens make it harder to make a connection with your kids.

Thorfinn, from Vinland Saga. Credit: Michael O "mugginns"

We've played a lot of wargames and board games in the past, but I've noticed my kids, especially my teenager, are becoming more independent and wanting to do more of their own stuff. As a dad, it can make you feel like you're losing a child and gaining a roommate. I know that finding a common game that we both like - SAGA - will build that relationship up.

We do both like Age of Sigmar a lot, but I still haven't painted his entire army, and the game is a lot more complicated. SAGA is not simple, it's not a fast-play game, but its a lot easier to play - the complexity is in the battle boards, and I know both of our battle boards pretty well. When we play AoS together it feels like I have to pilot both armies, and it's difficult. There are unit special rules, faction special rules, seasonal special rules, and scenario special rules. I love AoS, but it's just a lot more..

My Norse-Gael hearthguard - Gripping Beast metals. Credit: Michael O "mugginns"

Charlie has also been more interested in the Middle Ages because we've been reading and watching the anime Vinland Saga. It's a really well illustrated series that follows the history of the Great Heathen Army pretty closely. Charlie's Warlord is actually a 3D print of the main character, Thorfinn. My daughter is also interested in SAGA so I'm painting up an entire Viking shieldmaiden army for her made mostly of Bad Squiddo minis. I can't wait to do a big battle with them, eight points on my side versus their four and four.

Our Lists and Plans

Charlie is taking four points of Vikings:

Warlord

Warriors x8
Warriors x8
Warriors x8
Hearthguard berserkers x4

The general idea is to have a bunch of warriors ready to go to Valhalla (using the battle board ability... Valhalla) and some berserkers to take down really tough targets. We'll see if the berserkers can actually punch at their weight, but he really likes them so they're in.

My Norse-Gael warlord, from Gripping Beast. Credit: Michael O "mugginns"

His warriors are all spear and shield wielding Gripping Beast plastics. The berserkers are all pewter guys from various manufacturers, likely Gripping Beast, Foundry, Artizan, and Crusader. I like the plastic guys for him because he's a little more likely to treat his guys roughly than I am, and paint wears off pewter faster.

I'm bringing four points of Norse-Gaels:

Warlord

Warriors x8
Warriors x8
Hearthguard x6
Levy x 6

Our plan for the Norse-Gaels involves the usual battle board abilities to manipulate a ton of combat bonus output, plus some really tough hearthguard. I haven't really used hand weapon and shield hearthguard much so I'm interested to see what happens with them. Norse is a great ability that I really like, and it makes them insanely tough, especially having six bodies. They can even close ranks if I need to, which is something I'm not used to doing.

Charlie's warriors with spear and shield. Credit: Michael O "mugginns"

FlintCon

Our local little wargame convention is coming up here in early February in Flint, Michigan called FlintCon. I've been running participation games here for years and have chronicled them in the past. We're going to bring a SAGA game for the third session where each player controls four points of dudes, Vikings and Vikings versus Norse-Gaels and Scots. It'll be a good practice for AdeptiCon, as we'll be helping the players learn and making sure we have all the rules down ourselves.

The Norse-Gael warriors I'll be using. Credit: Michael O "mugginns"

The plan for the game is to use the Pillage scenario from the Book of Battles as the basic idea, where the Vikings have to burn the Norse-Gael village and perhaps even capture some livestock. I have a ton of cool buildings and Celtic-looking huts and stuff painted up, so it'll be a nice looking board. I'll have my Irish boat finished up along with a Viking longboat that will be moored up in the little harbor setup.

Final Thoughts

I'll definitely have an after-action report for AdeptiCon, with my thoughts as well as a short interview with whatever thoughts I can get out of Charlie. We can't wait to throw some SAGA dice and enter Valhalla!

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Tags: SAGA | Adepticon