POSTSCRIPT:

This the first part  of what became a 12 Part series of a Blog Post on doing Saga in 6mm. Hope you enjoy. If you have any comments or questions feel free to contact me through the blog or the Roll a One Facebook group.

 

Part 1 – Introduction (below)

Saga in 6mm – Part 2 Irish, Welsh & Scottish

Saga in 6mm – Part 3 Vikings, Normans & Anglo-Danes

Saga in 6mm – Part 4 Welsh, Anglo-Danes & Jomsvikings

Saga in 6mm – Part 5 Breton, Norse-Gael & Franks

Saga in 6mm – Part 6 – Painting

Saga in 6mm – Part 7 -Terrain

Saga in 6mm – Part 8 – Real Estate

Saga in 6mm – Part 9 – Some action shots

Saga in 6mm – Part 10 – Pre-Show

Saga in 6mm – Part 11 – The Joy of 6 2016

Saga in 6mm – Part 12 – Faction Ideas

In the text below it states “The game is more or less played as normal apart for some changes to distances (movement and range combat).” , however I kept everything as per the rules in the end. I just replaced the single miniature with the 25mm base (using inches, the same playing area and ranges, etc).  Initially, as indicated, I was thinking about changing the range for Javelins as strictly speaking they are a little bit too long in relative terms using 6mm miniatures (I think that the Medium length at 6 inches is about 40 meters in 6mm “talk” – the effective combat range of a javelin is commonly understood to be about 20 meters). But Saga is more of a game than a historical simulation of combat – so we ignored this and to be honest it works. Perhaps one way to justify it (if you need one) would be that they  rush forward, throw their javelins and then get back?

I have been putting up 6mm wargames tables at the Joy of Six for the last four years with the Wyre Forest Wargames club (WFWC). They have been depicting various battles from the Great Northern War (GNW).  This year (to save me from tears) I have decided to do something else.  The main reason was actually due to the fact that my good friend (and authority on all things warfare in general and the Great Northern War in particular) Nick Dorrell could not make this show and it felt strange not having his guiding hand to oversee the practical matters of running the game.  But I hope we will be back with some GNW action next year and do the interesting battle of Lesnaya 1708 (but things have changed before). I will be back with some GNW postings once the Joy of Six 2016 and the 6mm Saga adventure have come and gone as there is still plenty to do before July.

Since Baccus released their early middle age range with Anglo-Saxons, Vikings and Normans I have wanted to do a dark age project.  I noted a mention on the Meeples and Miniatures page about doing Saga in 6mm – it made me think for a second or two.  As many others I am better at buying figures than painting them and really wanted some kind of challenge and a clear deadline – so I decided to do Saga in 6mm.  Here is my blur I submitted to the Joy of Six show just before Christmas last year.

“This participation game allows the player to try out Studio Tomahawks Saga rules in 6mm, using one of the 12 factions from the basic rules and the first two supplements (Anglo-Danes, Norman, Viking, Welsh, Anglo-Saxons, Irish, Strathclyde Welsh, Norse Gael, Bretons, Jomsvikings, Scots or Capetian Franks).  The warbands are pre-selected and are all at 4 points.  Each individual model from the normal rules are replaced with a 25mm square base with 3 to 10 models, depending on type of unit.  The game is more or less played as normal apart for some changes to distances (movement and range combat).  Prior knowledge useful but not required.  We run each game to conclusion or an hour (whatever occurs first). We will play 3 or 4 games per table during the day – further details will follow. The terrain boards, although not historical, will be in line with what we normally do for the Great Northern War stuff.   There will be a few hills, forests and a small Viking or Saxon settlement somewhere in the background.”

Since then I have completed all but one faction, done two 3 by 4 feet mats and have some terrain to complete.  In future parts I will go through the factions and what models I used, how I painted them, how I made the terrain mats we will use on the day and some of the terrain pieces.  All in all the project have resulted in 324 bases (the equivalent of over 100 Polemos bases) and a total of 2155 miniatures – they are small but many.

Being a long time listener of the Meeples and Miniatures Podcast and having had a chat or two with Neil Shuck over the years I decided to approach him and David Luff at Salute – knowing they liked the game. I asked them if they wanted to help out on the day and they said yes – I am not sure who was the happiest at the end of the day – my son who got to try out the new Halo Ground Command game or I.

When Mike Hobbs (as documented in the Meeples and Miniatures Podcast No. 170) decided to join and help it really made my day.  I just have to finish a few things and we should be good to go.

Please come back and have a look (or follow the blog), we aim to post something at least every Sunday.

/ The One

Related links:

1. Joy of Six
2. Wyre Forest Wargames Club
3. Baccus
4. Studio Tomahawk
5. Meeples and Miniatures Podcast