Varjazi & Basileus Review

The following notes are my initial reactions to the new SAGA release, Varjazi and Basileus.  The expansion includes three new factions and one swords for hire.  Hopefully, I can get a playtesting of two of the factions this weekend and a report.

Pagan Rus

Hero: Sviatoslav, Prince of Kiev - use more swords for hire units, and some unique fatigue penalties and bonuses.  Also only generates two SAGA dice, so his effectiveness bears testing.  

Unit description: Hearthguard and Warriors are all on foot, Levies carry javelins; uses the Viking dice

Abilities: If you are a defensive player, the Pagan Rus' abilities will appeal to you even more than the Anglo-Danes.  One ability limits all enemy movements and shooting to a S range.  Another ability can prevent a single enemy unit from taking multiple actions in a turn, therefore placing dice on that ability alone would prevent your opponent from activating a unit a second time.

Rus Princes

Hero: none

Unit Descriptions: mounted Hearthguard, foot Warriors and levy Archers, uses the Saxon dice

Abilities: Disrupts opponent's gameplay in a way not seen since the Skraeling battleboard.  One ability eliminates an opponents Attack Dice that have been accumulated through bonuses and abilities and requires them to attack you with the same number that you possess.  Other abilities radically change how you use SAGA dice to activate units.  This unit seems to be the trickiest to master since the Franks.  

Byzantines

Hero: Harald Hadrada, The Basileus

Unit Descriptions: Hearthguard are mounted and carry bows and spears, foot Warriors and javelin armed levies.

Abilities: The Byzantine unit is notable for the flexibility and diversity of units available.  If using the Basileus, Hearthguard cavalry may be upgraded to Kataphractoi and benefit from a higher armor rating.  Axe wielding Varangians may also be employed.  Warriors can carry spears or bows, which is useful with battleboard abilities such as Massed Archery.  This faction will benefit the player who likes a "little of everything" and knows how to arrange the lines to take advantage of the different troops.  My main criticism id that I would have liked to have seen some ability on the battleboard or for a hero that took advantage of the famous Byzantine deception and bribery - similar to that seen from the Scots.

Swords for Hire

Steppe Nomads - integrating mounted archers into a small skirmish game has been a challenge for many people who have been developing homebrew battleboards.  The fear is that the mounted archers can zip around the table remaining virtually untouchable.  The game designer's innovation has been to make the nomads similar to javeliners, except they have the option to shoot then move as well as move then shoot.  And while that ignores the historically known range and effectiveness of the recurve bow, it is an excellent innovation in terms of gameplay balance.  I definitely plan to use some of my Pechenegs on the table.

This set does not include the Angry Monks or Wandering Bard Sword for Hire units as some initial reports said.  Those are available as downloadable cards on the Studio Tomahawk forum, and in truth, would not fit in with the Eastern European scope of Varjazi & Basileus.   Containing three factions instead of the usual four is a slight disappointment, the package does includes a nice heavy stock full color folio that can hold multiple rulebooks and battleboards.

Gripping Beast Dark Age Plastic Warrior Review

My review is simple - if you play a miniature game in the Dark Ages, buy them.  Forty figures for about $32 is a great deal, and the sculpting quality could shake even the biggest metal snob.  I purchased mine from Architects of War, great service as always.

Where and when to use these troops will be a matter of some debate at the fringes.  From the Bayeux Tapestry to the Viking hoards, we know the material culture of the elite class in the early Middle Ages.  For the poorer troops, it is a matter of speculation in many cases.  These are the men who worked the land of a jarl or a duke and picked up a sword or spear when called.  Not exactly the peasant rabble, but not professional warriors, either.  The models can conceivably by used from the Arthurian period into the twelfth or thirteenth century, but they are obviously intended for the Viking Age, the ninth through eleventh centuries.  Geographically, the ideal placing is northern Europe, but with some shield swaps and lighter/brighter fabrics they could work anywhere from Iberia to Byzantium.  For fantasy wargaming, these could fit on any fantasy table of your choosing, from Middle Earth to Westeros.

Each sprue contains five bodies and eight heads.  The left arm is fixed on all the bodies and the right arm is the one with weapon options.  That's understandable, but as lefty, I like to throw the occasional southpaw into my army, accurate or not.  (He's the expendable guy on the end of a shield wall). There are enough spears (seven) and shields on each sprue for all the bodies.  Other arms include one axe, one sword and one hornblower.  Also included are five hands holding slings, so you will need to cannibalize one of the spear arms to attach the hand.  The slings are a nice addition, as I have always intended to add them to my collection, but always cut them at the last minute in favor of something more relevant or menacing.  Also, a thin hard plastic sling looks more natural than the bendable lump on a metal figure.

I expect there will be some criticism for the lack of bows in the package.  I think the exclusion is a wise choice.  A good bow pose is fairly unique and not interchangeable with other weapons - look at the awkwardness of Wargames Factory's Dark Age Saxons and Vikings. Hopefully, Gripping Beast or Conquest Games is planning some plastic archers in the near future.

I do not have anytime to paint for at least a week or so, but here are five assembled bodies with a black wash.  I particularly like the head on the top left figure.  The fur lined helmet could fit in a Rus or Slav unit.  The slingers are headed for El Cid's army.  

The Russians are Coming!

With two Rus factions for SAGA forthcoming, I thought it would be a good idea to run through some of my Rus figures.  Most of them were purchased as a way to give an eastern focus to my Viking army, without the intention of building a separate Russian army.  As it turns out, I have a few figures from most of the manufacturers currently.

Below are some Magister Militum Rus. These are metal figures of average to good casting quality. The sculpts are well detailed, but not as good as the Gripping Beast figures. Shields are separate, and soft metal spears are included, which I chose not to use.

Gripping Beast's Jomsvikings are obviously modeled on early Rus from the Osprey books. These rank with the best of Gripping Beast's dark age line, and would do well for the early Pagan Rus. Additionally, shields are cast on and spears are not included. 

I am always looking for ways to convert figures from my second box of Conquest Normans.  Here's one that's been given a fur cloak and a higher peaked helmet.  He could work well as an eleventh century Rus from the Kievan princes era.  

WIP pictures

Below, a comparison shot of figures from each of the four manufacturers.  The Essex is obviously the smaller of the figures, but not so much that it is out of place.  It also has the least sharp features, and the square shield shows little texture compared to Gripping Beast and Magister.  

As far as I know, the only other manufacturer of Dark Age Rus is Old Glory.  I would expect their figs to be more in line with the Essex in terms of size and quality.  There website does not help very much with pictures. 

Spanish History and Historical Fiction for Wargamers

As I continue on with my Spanish projects, I thought I would share my reading material since January.

Non-Fiction:

Barton, Simon and Richard Fletcher. The World of El Cid: Chronicles of the Spanish Reconquista. Manchester University Press, 2001.

For the student of Spanish history who wants to read primary sources in English, this is the best work.  While not modestly priced, it is not as expensive as learning Latin, Arabic or medieval Spanish. Works best after reading a more general history such as Fletcher's The Quest for El Cid.

Fletcher, Richard. The Quest for El Cid. Oxford University Press: 1991.

Not so much a biography of El Cid as it is a survey or what we know and do not know about the legendary Castilian warrior.  Fletcher spends almost the first half of the book on an overview of Spain from Visgothic times until the eleventh century, but it is time well spent. When he arrives at the Cid's story, the reader understands the political and social forces that turned the tide on Islamic Spain in the eleventh century.  

Lowney, Chris. A Vanished World: Medieval Spain's Golden Age Christians, Muslims and Jews

As a general rule, I tend to be suspicious of popular histories that announce their thesis in the title (i.e. how so and so changed the world), and this does not prove to be an exception to that rule. Written looking backwards with 9/11 and the Madrid bombings as a starting point, wistfully (or is that wishfully?) recalls a golden age of cooperation and coexistance in medieval Iberia. On the positive side, the chapters are thematically organized around a series of unique individuals or events that are barely covered in the more general chronological histories of the Reconquista. 

Nicolle, David. El Cid and the Reconquista 1050 - 1492. Osprey: 1988.
Nicolle, David. The Moors: The Islamic West 7th - 15th Centuries AD. Osprey: 2001.

Both of Osprey's two entries on the subject of Medieval Spain were written by David Nicolle and illustrated by the superb Angus McBride. Unfortunately, both books cover such a vast expanse of time that the amount of material, literary and artistic, devoted to the El Cid era is less than I hoped for.  Essential for the wargamer, nonetheless. 

Reilly, Bernard. The Kingdom of Leon-Castilla Under King Alfonso VI 1065-1109. University of Pennsylvania Press: 1988.  Available online at http://libro.uca.edu/alfonso6/alfonso.htm

Essential reading for the important transitional rule of Alfonso VI.  After King Ferdinand I engineered the unification of most of the Christian lands of the north, he left them divided among his sons at his death.  The middle son, Alfonso, reunified the lands at the cost of his own brother's lives.  While deeply appreciative of Andalusian culture, Alfonso VI was also closely associated with deeply pious and Cluniac clergy.  The Kingdom of Leon-Castilla Under King Alfonso VI 1065-1109 details how Alfonso built upon his father's political and military institutions and decisively turned the tide of the Spanish Reconquista in favor of the Christians.  This is academic reading, but accessible, both in terms of writing and price - it is freely available online as a pdf. 

The Poem of the Cid: Dual Language Edition. Penguin Classics: 1985.

Anyone familiar with the Viking sagas will recognize the epic qualities of The Poem of the Cid, or the Lay of the Cid as it is also known.  There is history here, to be sure, but also a healthy dose of myth making...not that there is anything wrong with that.  

Fiction:

Kay, Guy Gavriel. The Lions of al-Rassan. Harper: 1995.

Beautiful, tragic and evocative of a beautiful time and place that might have been.  Read all of Kay's books. Now. 

Reilly, Bernard. Journey to Compostela: A Novel of Medieval Pilgrimage and Peril. Combined Publishing: 2001.

Set in an unspecified year during the reign of Alfonso VI, a contest of wills develops between the two protagonists, one a peasant and the other a noble.  While very brief and quickly read, it is a good description of the class divide in the early feudal era.  For wargamers, it has a few action set pieces that could easily be turned into skirmishing scenarios.    

Andalusian Noble Cavalry

The invasion of Spain in 711 AD by the Umayyad Caliphate was accomplished by a small number of high ranking Arabs, supported by large numbers of Berber tribesmen. Over the next centuries, they built a prosperous and successful society on the Iberian peninsula.  The city of Cordoba had a half million inhabitants (making it the largest city in western Europe) and boasted 3,000 mosques.  

Seemingly on the fringe of Europe, Muslim Spain was nonetheless an important point for the diffusion of new ideas and goods into early medieval Europe.   From Muslim Spain, Europe was introduced to chess, the lute and reintroduced to the writings of ancient Greeks. Besides scholars, warriors from Europe came to Andalusia for a variety of reasons. Some went to fight against the Muslims.  Others went there in exile and to serve as mercenaries in wars between rival emirs.  When they left, the French, Spanish and Normans took back polo, jousting and a love for poetry that would fuel the romantic ideals of chivalry well into the Renaissance.  

Andalusian Cavalry from Artizan

Elite cavalry in Andalusia was initially based on the Syrian junds of the Umayyad Caliphate, but these Arabs were a numerical minority in al-Andalus. The Berbers were initially the bulk of the infantry forces, though Berber and African cavalry were more common by the eleventh century. The noble cavalry of Andalusia's great cities were well equipped and colorful. They often wore chain or scale armor, with surcoats over the armor, a style that was later picked up by western knights. Tactically, their role was to support infantry with light weapons and quick maneuvers. Shields born personal designs or emblems. Again, it was a style that would later be imitated by Christians.   

Influences ran both ways, however.  From Christian warriors, Andalusians picked up an appreciation for Frankish swords and the couched lance charging style.  

Mounted archers were rare, but not unheard of, especially if recruited from Turkish sources. More common would have been crossbowmen, mounted and on foot. Andalusian city militias were equipped with crossbows, and a number of better off among the citizenry could have wielded their crossbows from the expedient position upon a horse.

Mounted Arab archers from Gripping Beast

Mounted Crossbowmen, from Artizan

Conquest Normans into Andalusians

After a number of posts on my Castilians and El Cid armies, it is time to move to the other end of the peninsula, the Moors of Spain, or Al-Andalus.


Warriors of Al-Andalus

The peoples who made up the fighting forces of Muslim Spain were drawn from many places.  As many historians have noted,the Arab invasion of Spain by the Umayaad Caliphate in 711 AD was not entirely Arab or Muslim.  The initial invasion force was led by the Arabs, but the bulk of the troops were Berbers, who had in recent years been conquered by the Umayaad Arabs, and not completely converted in the early eighth century.   Tensions between Arabs and Berbers characterized the Spanish emirate throughout its existance, with open warfare first breaking out in the 740s.

The Arabs were disproportionately a urban population in Spain, with the countryside dominated by Berbers and native Christians, who slowly converted to Islam over the next two hundred years.  These Spanish Christians served in Andalusian armies, for reasons of both compulsion and loot, along with slave troops purchased from Christian lands, Africa and the Middle East.


Here is a group of four Conquest Normans beginning their conversion into Andalusian troops.  Tunics were extended into robes, and adding turbans and headgear.  The set's round shields were also used, as the heart shaped Arab shields did not come into popular usage until the twelfth century.

Finished and painted, the shield patterns on the two below were lifted from some Andalusian pottery designs of the time. 

Here are the conversions in the ranks with some Artizan Moors.  They fit in very well in terms of scale and heft.

Troops of Arab descent in Spain were most likely from the cities of Spain (which were some of the largest in Europe at the time), and functioned as an urban militia.  As such, these are depicted as wearing finer clothing in bright colors.

Overall, the conversion process was useful practice for my poor (but hopefully improving) sculpting skills.  For time reasons, I would not want to convert a whole box of Normans into Arabs, unless one needed a few extra Moors for a low cost.

Next time, Andalusian cavalry and commanders.

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.