New Loot

Hello again.

I had pondered for some time whether I was going to get the second edition of SAGA, having enjoyed the first one so much. I read reviews in magazines of what changes had occurred within the rules, but nothing really stood out. I saw the promises of various world books to come, with particular interest in the Age of Samurai option, as I felt that was a way to get some oriental stuff under my belt, but left it at that.

But then came "Age of Magic".

What was this? Did I want to spend £30 on another book, knowing I would also need the new rulebook to go with it? Did I want yet more faction dice, not to mention the magic dice to go with it?

Well, it turns out, yes I did!

The rules, the "Age of Magic" supplement and some Magic dice. I certainly hope they are "magic" when I come to roll them!

A set of each of the two faction dice, the magic dice again and some spell cards for those like me whose memory is not what it once was...

So, why did I succumb? Well, I blame Wargames Illustrated magazine. They ran a piece on this game a couple of months back and I was hooked.

• Being the owner of many fantasy figures, many of which are ready to go on the table any time soon, being painted and all, I quickly realised the outlay on this game would be limited to the rule books and dice if I wanted it to be.
• It was SAGA, right, so I was very likely to enjoy my games, just like I used to when thrashing Vikings and the like.
• It was easily and quickly expandable.
• It certainly looked the part from what I had read and seen in the aforementioned article.
• Within the six archetypal fantasy forces outlined in the book, there was massive flexibility to be able to create what you wanted to create, but sensibly bound by certain faction rules and constraints.

All good reasons, I think.

But, me being me, my thoughts turned to not just what I had, but what else I wanted.

I have a load of stuff I do not use, painted and unpainted. Hmm.

Those Ancient Indians would make a great "Great Kingdoms" force, especially with a multi-armed statue for some monstrous clout and perhaps a shape-shifting Rakhshasa or two. For "Great Kingdoms", think High Elves/ Empire/ Gondor.

Those Ancient Chinese would also make a suitable "Great Kingdoms" choice, especially with the addition of a Chinese dragon in the Monster category. The book's specialist option of "The Theocracy of Qwan T'ang" also fits well, but from the "Otherworld" faction, equipped with demon weapons and armour. Or perhaps I can have a terracotta warriors vibe with my monsters and creatures.

The "Undead Legions" specialist option of "The Royal Dynasty of Nephren-Ka" is a dead ringer (pardon the pun) for my once beloved Tomb Kings.

My Orcs fit neatly into "The Horde".

My Chaos forces can be split quite simply, with daemons going "Otherworld" and Chaos-worshipping humans going either Great Kingdoms, Horde if I make them hairy barbarian types or Otherworld too.

And that is before I drag the dwarves out of storage, the Skaven likewise, or think about anything else...

Highly recommended if you want some quick and easy fantasy games. The variety provided by the usual SAGA battle board system, together with the addition of a magic system allowing for the complexity of different spells cast at different power levels and you have a wealth of options. And who would not want to make some weird terrain to go with your imaginative use of old and tired forces?

Go for it!

G