Latest SAGA news: Varjazi & Basileus

The Muskets and Tomahawk blog has announced the next SAGA release, and I am certainly pleased with these developments. 

http://mousquetstomahawks.blogspot.com/2013/03/une-surprise-surprise.html

Titled Varjazi & Basileus, this expansion will contain the Byzantine faction (from Wargames Illustrated 301), the Pagan Rus and the Rus Princes.  New Swords for Hire units will be released including Steppe Nomads, Wandering Bard and Vengeful Monks. 

Without further hints or details, it sounds like the Pagan Rus could be the mostly Slav or Finno-Ugric people of Russia's forests and the Rus Princes will be the Viking traders who built the cities of Kiev and Novgorod, then mixing into the mostly Slavic population.  Steppe nomads such as the Khazars, Cumans and Pechenegs were rivals of the Rus for control of the pasture lands south of Russia's forest belts.  Some of these provided their skills to the Rus Princes for a price, and influenced the development of the Druzhina, Russia's noble cavalry. 

Wandering Bard and Vengeful Monk mercenaries sound interesting but no details are offered.  It could be some type of outlaw/rogue addition to a warband, or an ability to provide benefits to including musicians or priests in your warband. 

http://seakingsaga.blogspot.com/2012/09/musicians-and-priests-house-rules.html

Figure Sources

Sourcing figures for the first SAGA factions was not a difficult task.  Normans, Saxons and Vikings are thick on the ground in the miniature world, available in a variety of prices and quality, as well as in metal and plastic.  For the more Easternly factions, there are fewer options but it should not troublesome to acquire few units of Rus are Steppe Nomads. 

Gripping Beast - probably the best early Rus figures available, and very close to their Jomsviking line.  In fact, anyone with Jomsvikings already can probably use them as Rus hearthguard. 

Magister Militum - the sculpting quality of Magister's Rus is not as sharp as Gripping Beasts, but their nicely priced Rus line includes spearmen and levy archers.



Acquiring Steppe Nomads before the game's arrival might be chancey.  What sort of abilities, armor and weapons will the rules account for?  Essex has some of the most varied Asiatic figures, and since they sell by the figure, one could put together an appropriately mixed group of mercenary horsemen.  Old Glory also has some packs of Asiatics, including this set of Pechenegs:



The announcement also says that this release will mark the end of their Viking age products.  Looking forward, Mike Hobbs' Twitter feed less than cryptically adds "on to Jerusalem." Time to buy some Fireforge plastics.

Torn Armor on Kickstarter

I have been following miniatures on Kickstarter for the better part of a year, and finally jumped in this week as a backer for the first time.  Torn Armor is a fantasy skirmish game with some interesting variations on the familiar tropes. My daughter (and my frequent Song of Blades and Heroes opponent) was attracted to both the Greek inspired army and the almost-but-not-quite-cute animal faction.

After a great opening day, the funding slowed, but it has had a strong run the past few days.  A big reason for the increased enthusiasm has been the announcement of an inclusion of Reaper's Clockwork Dragon for the first 500 backers at the game level, along with some other options that have been announced.  I hope this funds, but if it doesn't, it will be increasingly clear that the Kickstarter game community wants to see more physical products before backing, no matter how great the idea - witness Rick Priestly's recent Gates of Antares project.

Torn Armor on Kickstarter

SAGA Warband Reference Sheet

I put together a quick reference sheet to quickly check each unit's armor, movement, attack and shooting.  Probably not necessary for experienced wargamers, given the standardization of the three basic units in SAGA, but still handy.  Also posted on the Download page.

Warband Reference Sheet

El Cid and King Alfonso VI

I thought the parallels between El Cid and King Alfonso effectively paralleled the often contentious relationship between the dukes of Normandy and their lords, the kings of France. The quickest and easiest way to get these two leaders of Spain into SAGA was to use current battleboards. El Cid and his great cavalry seemed a good match for the Norman battleboard. King Alfonso VI, who outmaneuvered his brothers and brought the force of Spain upon the fractured taifa kingdoms, should play the Frankish battleboard. To preserve game balance, El Cid and King Alfonso's abilities are closely modeled on William the Bastard and Charlemagne.  

Norman dice made for King Alfonso's Spanish warband

El Cid

Like many great heroes of the Dark Ages, there is much we do not know about the life of Rodrigo Diaz and what is known has become entangled with legend. The hero of the Poema de Mio Cid (The Lay of the Cid) was a valiant warrior whose tragic flaw was being right when his king was wrong. While more realistic in tone than many medieval epics, the Lay of the Cid has the protagonist and capturing lions barehanded. Historically, Rodrigo was certainly a great warrior who was respected by both Christians and Muslims in eleventh century Spain.  He also had a great many enemies, and was dismissed by some as a mercenary with little loyalty or conviction.  

  

He was born in 1143 or a bit later, in the village of Vivar, not far from the town of Burgos. This was during the reign of King Ferdinand, who united most of Spain before his death in 1065, and the division of his kingdom among his sons Sancho, Alfonso and Garcia.  As the son of a nobleman, Rodrigo was raised to fulfill the duties of a king's man on the frontier.  While in his teens, Rodrigo became attached to the household of Sancho and rose to the position of alferez, or armiger (Latin), the trainer of Sancho’s household troops.  He served Sancho for six years, until the King was killed outside of Zamora.  Sancho’s murder possibly involved his sister Urraca, as well as his exiled brother Alfonso.

After Alfonso’s ascension to the throne of Castile and Leon, Rodrigo took a position in his court, though not one as high as in Sancho’s administration.  After his unwelcome obstruction of a Christian led raid in a Muslim kingdom, Rodrigo was exiled by Alfonso.  He quickly took up employ in the court of al-Mu'taman of Zaragoza.    

Rodrigo later returned to the service of Alfonso, but his fame and independence made him a difficult vassal to the king.  Rodrigo later took the city of Valencia, and for the last years of his life, held the realm as an independent sovereign.    

Hero of the Reconquista: as a hero of Castile, Rodrigo generates three SAGA dice at the start of each turn, instead of the usual two for other Warlords.

Duelist: As a frequent champion for his lord, Rodrigo was a master of single combat.  When engaging in melee with another Warlord, El Cid gains an extra attack die, allowing him to fight with six attack dice, rather than the five of other Warlords.

Campeador: As a recognized leader of men, El Cid can attract a variety of units to his warband. Any Warriors or Hearthguard units in Rodrigo’s warband may have bows.  Bow equipped Warriors and Hearthguard have an armour characteristic reduced by one (bow equipped Warriors have an Armour of 3 and bow-equipped Hearthguards have an Armour of 4) due to their lack of protection.  These models may be fielded as Christian or Muslim, and generate SAGA dice as any other unit.  


Alfonso VI

The second of three sons, Alfonso inherited the heartland of his father's kingdoms. An uneasy peace existed between the three brothers, but when their mother died in 1071, open warfare broke out.  At first, Sancho and Alfonso allied together and split Garcia's lands of Galicia and Portugal.  After turning on each other, Sancho defeated Alfonso and exiled him to Seville.  While dealing with an uprising in Zamora (not far from Seville, it should be noted), Sancho was murdered and Alfonso took the throne, declaring himself emperor of Spain in 1077.

Alfonso was a strong and effective ruler, and although he was dedicated to the reconquest of Spain, he did not believe in persecuting his Muslim subjects. He also cultivated close ties with France and brought to Spain Cluniac monks to standardize religious practices and rites. He died in 1109, leaving no male heir.
Hero of the Reconquista As the heir of his father Ferdinand and ruler of Spain, Alfonso must lead a Spanish warband and generates three SAGA dice at the start of each turn, (not two as other Warlord).  Alfonso may be represented as either mounted or on foot.  Any warband led by Alfonso must include at least one point of mounted Hearthguard.

King of Castile and Leon: Alfonso only generates four Attack Dice in melee and not five as other Warlords. His subjects expect him to lead the army, not exchange blows with the enemy.  While recognized as a capable warrior in his own right, he may not voluntarily engage in melee combat with enemy unless accompanied by friendly units.

Charisma: When Alfonso uses his We Obey special rule, he may activate up to three friendly units (if on foot) or two friendly units (if mounted).  The range of his activation is extended to M, and not S as with other Warlords.  

Alfonso, from Crusader Miniatures, warriors from Gripping Beast

In a few days, a battle report El Cid v. Alfonso will be posted, along with my reactions from my first play-through on the Frank's battleboard. 

Spanish Caballeros

The Caballero Hidalgos and Caballero Villanos were the core of the Christian armies of Spain in the tenth through twelfth centuries. In fact, the prevalence of cavalry in Spanish armies meant that it did not become an exclusive role for the wealthy elite, and frontier landowners capable of affording a horse were expected to ride in war.

Heavier cavalry was a bit lighter than in northern Europe, because the realities of frontier warfare on a variety of terrain demanded quick moving men and mounts.  Spears were used overarm and downward, with the couched style introduced in the late eleventh century.  Shields were generally round, and tasseled in imitation of Muslim Andalusian styles.

Model Sources:

The two best sources for El Cid era miniatures are Crusader and Gripping Beast.  Both are of fairly high quality and mix well together, although there are features inherent to each range.  Crusader models tend to be a little bulkier and heftier than Gripping Beasts, which is not a criticism of either, but a point worth noting.  The sculpting on both lines is of high quality, although on average, the Crusader tends to be sharper, especially on the faces.  Gripping Beast earns points for variety.  There is a "sameness" to many of the Crusader figures, even across several of their lines.  Additionally, the Crusaders' only include round shields, even though historically, a mix of round and kite shields would characterize the period.

The models with green and yellow shields are in El Cid's party, and the red and yellow are primarily Castillians.

In plastic, there is no dedicated range, but Conquest Games' Normans, especially the unarmored figures, can make very good caballero villanos with the included round shields.

Conquest Games, Gripping Beast and Crusader Miniatures

YouTube Recommendation


La Spada del Cid a 1962 Spanish movie that is dubbed in German on YouTube. Good costuming and location shooting. Even though I could only understand one out of five words, it was good background noise for the painting table. Of course, Heston's El Cid is hard to beat, but it's interesting to see other takes.



Next week, a look at leaders of the Spanish armies in the eleventh centuries, along with some homebrew Saga cards.

Spanish Military Service, 1000-1200 AD

My blog posting as been very sparse in 2013 to date.  Hopefully, that should change in the coming weeks, as I have been furiously painting Spanish, Andalusian, Berber and Sudanese armies for a series of posts and write ups in the coming weeks.


Forced into the mountainous north by the Umayyad invasion in 711 AD, the Christian nobility clung to the kingdom of Asturia.  In the ninth and tenth centuries, the Christian kingdoms restrengthened and gradually expanded south.  On the Spanish plains the Asturian kings needed to develop a strong cavalry force, capable of defending the frontier and operating with some degree of self sufficiency.

To encourage settlement on the frontier, small landowners were granted commissions of land in exchange for military service.  This was not a feudal relationship per se, the small farmers were not of high enough status to become royal vassals and there was no ritual performed on either party's behalf.  Rather, it was a contractual relation.  Into the eleventh century, settlement became more numerous and organized.  Towns were created by royal charters, called fueros, and land was granted on the basis of cavalry service (caballerias) and infantry service (peonias).

Caballero Hidalgos or later just Hidalgos - greater and lesser knights who did have a feudal relationship with the king or a count (comes in Spain).

Caballero Villanos - most important class in the towns of central Spain.  Along with a small number of hidalgos, they formed a urban military aristocracy that gave Spanish towns of the eleventh and twelfth centuries a different character than Italy, with its merchant elite. They functioned as light horsemen and the jinete, referring more to a style than a type of soldier, involved fast moving and maneuvering cavalry equipped with javelins.

Above, a group of hidalgo villanos. Though not as well armored as knights, their horses, shields and clothing indicate wealthier status. Below, several groups of foot soldiers. Figures are from Crusader Miniatures.

Below, a group of fairly well equipped spearmen, perhaps some urban militia. The two on the right are from Gripping Beast.

Peones -small landowners and tenants not able to afford a horse and the requisite equipment gave their service as a peones, or foot soldier. Better equipped and trained foot soldiers bore a shield, spear and sword.  Skirmishers, drawn from the shepherds or Basque hill people, were proficient with bow, sling or javelin.  

Below, Spanish archers in fairly colorful garb, probably from trade with Arabic merchants to the south. All figures from Crusader Miniatures

Duties of the Spanish soldiers were to guard the towns and frontier, especially the herds of livestock. Far from just defenders, Caballeros and Peones were expected to go on the offensive and raid enemy territory, be it Muslim or Christian.  Raiding was also an opportunity for advancement, with soldiers at all levels enriching themselves through plunder and ransom.

Military service was essential to the reconquest of the Iberian penninsula, but Spanish kings were well aware that overly burdensome terms of service would not attract the necessary populations to the frontiers.  Age exemptions only applied to those over 70 years, which speaks to relative health of older people in  pre-modern times.  As always, one could purchase their way out of service, and the fee was twice as much for a caballero as a peony.  Family situations were also considered, with the newly married or those caring for sick relatives capable of receiving temporary exemptions.

Wargaming the Period

There are several good options for wargaming the early Reconquista period.  I do not own a copy of the Warhammer Ancient Battles El Cid supplement, but it was quite popular.  Reconquista army lists for Field of Glory were found in both the Wolves from the Sea and Oath of Fealty supplements.

My current preferred large battle historical system game is Clash of Empires, and my eventual goal is to build a 2500 to 3000 point Spanish army.

SAGA is my other favorite game currently.  While a Spanish supplement is highly likely in the next year or two, adapting a current battleboard is the best option.  The three classes of men, Hidalgos, Caballero Villanos and Peones fit into SAGA's divisions, and the best analog is probably the Norman or Breton battleboard.


Sources

Lourie, Elena. "A Society Organized for War," Past and Present, No. 36, December 1966, pp. 54-66.

Powers, James ."Frontier Military Service and Exemption in Municipalities of Aragon and Castile, vol. 45. Military Affairs.

Portugal in the Age of El Cid

This post and hopefully the next few will be about an El Cid project a friend and I have worked on for almost two years. At various points we wrote our own rules, used other established rules systems, and now might try to get these into our SAGA games. I volunteered to paint a big chunk of his figures and he wanted them to represent a Portuguese force. Properly defined however, there was no Portugal in the mid to late eleventh century, the era of the Cid and the rise of Castile and Leon.  

Though Portugal was not recognized as a sovereign kingdom until 1143, the political separation of the western lands of the Iberian peninsula has a long history.  It was organized under the Romans as the province of Lusitania.  Following the Roman era, the Suevi tribes controlled western and northwestern Iberian lands until their absorption into the Visigothic kingdom.  The collapse of the Visigoths against the Arab invasion in 711 put most of the Iberian peninsula in Umayaad control. A small portion of the northwest, Asturia, was the refuge of the Visigothic nobility and the Basques controlled the mountainous northwest.

Under the Asturian king Alfonso III, western  territory was recaptured in 843 and the settlement of Porto Cale was established where the Duro River met the Atlantic.  As a buffer zone between Galicia and Al’ Andalus, Alfonso awarded it to his vassal Vimar Peres.

The ninth and tenth centuries were the golden age of the Cordoban Caliphate. Andalusia was the wealthiest and most sophisticated power in western Europe and though Islamic, attracted Christians eager to study medicine, science and work as mercenaries. The height of this power was reached under the vizier Al-mansur (Almanzor, 938-1002). He waged war on Castile and Leon, raiding as far as Santiago. After 1031, the political balance shifted decisively towards the Christian kingdoms. In that year, the last Cordoban caliph was removed and Andalusia was divided into numerous rival taifa kingdoms.  Meanwhile, the Christian kingdoms were consolidating under King Fernando the Great.  In the west, Fernando was campaigning well below the Tagus River on the Muslim held city of Badajoz. As Christian held land expanded around Porto, the County of Portugal was formed.  The Christian armies at this time were not actively looking to reclaim the peninsula for the extraction of tribute payment, paria, was much more lucrative than conquest.

Throughout the tenth century, the County of Portugal remained more or less a part of the Kingdom of Leon.  The death of Ferdinand in 1065 resulted in the division of his kingdom into three parts.  His eldest son, Sancho, received Castile; Alfonso, the favorite, received the heartland of Leon; and the youngest son Garcia was granted Galicia, which included the County of Portugal. In 1070, Count Nuno Mendes, a decendant of Vimar Peres, rebelled against Garcia and was defeated in 1071 at the Battle of Pedroso.  Thereafter, Garcia took the title King of Galicia and Portugal, the first to refer to it as a kingdom. 

Nuno Mendes, Rebel King of Portugal

Ferdinand's lands were not divided for long. In 1071, the two eldest sons attacked and divided attacked and divided Galicia, with some sources claiming that Sancho's alfarez Rodrigo Diaz personally captured Garcia. A year later, Sancho was dead, murdered by unknown assassins and Alfonso VI was king of Leon, Castile and Galicia. As for the county of Portugal, Alfonso named his son-in-law Henry, brother of the Duke of Burgundy, as count.  

Count Henry of Portugal

Alfonso death at age 72 in 1109 after more than forty years on the throne was the catalyst for Portuguese independence.  Succession was an open question. With only surviving daughters, the eldest, Urraca was widowed but with a male child.  Her sister Theresa and brother in law Count Henry were far from obedient vassals. Their child, Afonso, was finally proclaimed King of Portugal and captured Lisbon with English crusaders in 1147.

Wargaming Portugal

Historical opponents for an eleventh century Portuguese warband are plentiful and varied. Most obvious would be Andalusians and, later, the Almoravids. Equally prevalent as opponents was other Christian Iberians, or a combined Christian and Moorish force. While El Cid was a mercenary captain for the taifa city Zaragoza, he once fought off a raid that included the Count of Portugal.

The Portuguese elite was equipped and fought like the rest of Iberia's Christians, wearing mail, armed with spear and sword and with horsemanship skills that rivaled the Normans. As a frontier region, Portugal was more more heavily influenced by Andalusian dress and military styles. Infantry was comprised of property owning men from towns and their lord's estates who saw war as an opportunity for adventure and plunder. They were equipped with spear and sword, with the round shield giving way to the Norman kite shield later in the eleventh century. To defend against raids, peasant, especially those from shepherding backgrounds, were competent with the sling and javelin.

My next post will be a look at these skirmishers, and some historical fiction dealing with Reconquista Spain.

Sources

Fletcher, Richard. The Quest For El Cid. Oxford University Press, 1989.

Luscombe, David and Jonathon Riley Smith, eds. The New Cambridge Medieval History vol. IV c.1024 - c.1198 Part II. Cambridge University Press, 2008.

Nicolle, David. El Cid and the Reconquista 1050-1492. Osprey, 1988.

Maps from Wikipedia used under Creative Commons license.