After a successful SAGA debut in 2023, we storming back in for another helping of SAGA Doubles: Age of Melee! AdeptiCon features a host of SAGA events across all four days with SAGA Doubles as a real highlight on Saturday. Last year, we went 0-3 on the day. Our goal was simple, don’t lose all three games. Let’s dive in and see how the Team Chicago Dice fared!

Our Warband
The Last Saga

Ben and I went with an Age of Crusades theme this year. I built out a Spanish Warband with a Warlord on a Horse, 2pts of Hearthguard on Horses, 1pt of Warriors and 1pt of Levy with Crossbows. All the models are from Reconquer Designs that John printed for me. This is the first time I’ve worked on a fully 3D-printed hobby project and I was a bit hesitant. But I must say, I am thrilled with how these Spanish turned out and was presently surprised at the quality of the prints. For anyone looking for more Medieval-era STLs, I highly recommend Reconquer.

Ben’s Milites Christi had a Warlord on a Horse, 2pts of Hearthguard on Horses and 2pts of Warriors on foot. Ben used the outstanding Outremer range from Footsore Miniatures. The Military Order Knights are just perfect for a Crusader-style Warband. Shouts to Crown of Command and their Barons’ War Outremer Military Commander video for some painting inspiration and guidance.

This year we wanted to go all out with our display board. Ben even went the extra mile and produced these incredible backdrops to use and I must say, they really bring the entire army to life. The fortress is from the Blotz City Walls range. These MDF kits were easily to build and fun to paint. Yet another strong recommendation for anyone looking for a Middle Eastern-themed castle/fortress.

Game 1
Old Coot Feud vs David & Kevin (Irish & Vikings)

Just to set the stage for how unskilled Ben and I are as SAGA players – we didn’t even realize that our Warbands (Spanish and Milites Christi) use the same SAGA Dice until we sat down for Game 1! Oh goodness we have no idea what we are doing.

Like Ben and I, David & Kevin were also relatively inexperienced players and should be commended for working with us through the rules. Between the four of us, I think we played mostly correctly! It can be an intimidating thing going to a tournament without a mastery of the game system and it was great to have opponents who really understood the vibe of SAGA Doubles and didn’t get caught up in the minutia of the rules. If we couldn’t get a question answered after about 30 seconds of searching the Rulebook, we just made a call and continued play. Just lovely.

Now, you may think that we were evenly matched, not the case. We still got absolutely bodied in Game 1 and took our first loss of the day. David’s Irish caused all kinds of issues against Ben’s Hearthguard with wave after wave of javelins and Kevin’s Vikings had only one goal; to die in combat. Sadly for those Vikings, it was the Spanish that did most of the dying…

Don’t take any of this as complaints! It was a fantastic game and great way to get reacquainted with SAGA Doubles.

Game 2
Dusk vs. John & Paul (Scots & Vikings)

For Game 2 we found ourselves starting down the imposing duo of John & Paul – the event TOs. To make a long story short, we had a fantastic game and managed to eek out a draw. However, Ben and I are not fools. We may be terrible at SAGA, but we fully understood that our opponents were pulling their punches. No complaints from us! Both John and Paul helped us with some rules and game mechanics, much to our appreciation. It’s not often you get to game against true masters of their craft and it was an educational experience. Plus, this particular game has inspirited me to write a new Bolt Action mission! Also, maybe I should just stick with Vikings for SAGA. They seem more my playstyle.

Game 3
Sacred Totem vs Bob & Jim (Greek Successors)

It’s Game 3 and with a Draw in Game 2, we’ve already accomplished our goal for 2024! No matter the outcome of this game, our AdeptiCon SAGA experience was a smashing success. And that’s good to keep in mind because we got absolutely face smashed by this Greek phalanx.

In an interesting turn of events, we faced off against a pair of elephants in Game 3 for the second year in a row. The elephants were terrifying in 2023 and it turns out, they are terrifying in 2024. Bob and Jim rolled up with an incredibly well synergized force that wasted no time in dismantling our warbands piece by piece. While I was using a single SAGA Die to activate one unit, they were using a single SAGA Die to activate at least three units. The game quickly spired out of control but we still had a great match. Bob and Jim were kind enough to show me a few Warband options that would better fit my “push it forward” playstyle. Game 3 was another set of great opponents who won with grace.

Final Thoughts

Another fantastic Doubles event! John did a great job as TO and even managed to give us some pointers during Game 2. And thank you to the always supportive Badger Games for providing prize support to the award winners. On the table, it was a tremendous improvement over last year. Only two losses and I managed to not get tabled a single time! At this rate Ben and I will secure Best Overall at AdeptiCon 2032! Above are the photos I was able to snag during Paint Judging (should have taken more). The level of hobby at SAGA Doubles was so good. Really impressive showing. I want to call out Scott & Tom specifically for their stupefying and Best Painted-winning Moors. So vibrant, so well executed.

After the almost overwhelming back-to-back madness of Bolt Action Combat Patrol & Doubles, SAGA was simply pure joy. I learned a lot about the game, got caught out many times making mistakes and cannot wait to continue my SAGA journey.