VAAJ~ ec B~Leus

A Sagc\ : SKiRmishes in the Oc\RK Ages supp{emeoc

Factions designed by : Ale x Buchel
Written by: Ale x Buchel and Andy " Lord S" Sherwell
Layout, cover and graphic design: Fred Machu
Pictures: Wyn Rogers
Figures painted by: Darren Harding, Wyn Rogers, Mystic Spirals, Adey Burt
Matt Bazley, Fred Machu and Artmaster Studios.
Scenery by: Wyn Rogers, Gripping Beast and Grand Manner
Thanks to Mike Hobbs and the lnner Sanctum for their help and play testing sessions.
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Varjaz i & Basileus is published by Gripping Beast under license from Studio Tomahawk SARL, 11 Nouvelle Cit, 67380 Lingolsheim.
Saga, Skirmishes in the Dark Ages, Northern Fury, The Raven's Shadow and Varjazi & Basileus are by Al ex Buchel and Studio Tomahawk.
ISBN : 978-2-9538053-5-2
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Printed in April2013 by l'lmprimerie Gantier (59582 MARLY)
Studio Tomahawk 2013

lNbeX.
Faction: The Pagan Rus .................................................................................................................. Pages 3 to 6
Faction: The Rus Princes ............................................................................................................ Pages 7 to 10
Faction: The Byzantines ........................................................................................................... Pages 11 to 14
Swords For Hire: The Steppe Nomads .......................................................................................Page 15

Lhe p(\gc\11 Rus

The Rus l<ingdom emerged in the m id-9th century, carved out by

Norse traders and adventurers w ho had established settlements
along the main river routes and waterways into what is now
northern modern Russia.
The Rus ruled over the native Slavs and Finno-Ugarian subjects,
mixing their mythology, traditions and culture with their own.
Russian chronicles na me their first l<ing as Ruril< w ho replaced the
Khazars as Lord of Kiev and founded a dyn asty that would rule
Russia until the later Middle Ages.

Your Warlord is an important noble likely to be a Norseman. He

can be a local lord or even a warlike Khagan (a title derived from
the Khazars ).
As was the tradition in the Norse culture, the lords and leaders
maintained a band of loyal followers and bodyguards. They were
likely to be of pure Scandivanian blood and were either called
Varjazi (Varangians) or Druzhina. They fought on foot, in tight
shieldwall formations. These Varjazi form the Hearthguards at
your disposal.
Most troops fighting for the Rus warlords were Slavs or other
natives. Armed with spear and shield, these troops usually made
up the militia defending Novgorod, Kiev or any other major trade
city. They are your Warriors.
The bow was not a favoured weapon of the early Rus, and was
restricted to hunting during
this period. From time to time, sorne scouts
armed with javelins would join a warband
and be despatched in front of the battle line. These
javelinmen form the Levy that your Warlord might muster.

JFACTUON RUJLJE
Pagan Rus Warlords, Hearthguards and Warriors are not subject
to any special rule.
Pagan Rus Levies are armed with javelins.
Unless otherwise specified, Pagan Rus may not include Swords
for Hire units.

HJEROJE OJF THJE VJ[JIONG AGJE

Sviatoslav 1of Kiev, Prince of Rus,
Conqueror of the Khazars
Sviatoslav was born in the mid-9th century and was the son of lgor,
Prince of Kiev. As soon as he succeeded to the throne, he lool<ed
east and south to expand the lands he had inherited from his
father. lnfluenced by Byzantine emissaries, his attention turned to
the Khazar Khaganate in the Valga valley and the Pontic steppes.
In 965 AD Sviatoslav launched a lightening campaign and he
overthrew the rulers of Sarl<el and Kerch, two of the majar cities
of the Khazars, befo re destroying and burning the Khazar capital
of Atil. In one year, Sviatoslav had fragmented a nation that ruled
the steppes for four centuries.
After the Khazar, the Prince of Kiev turned to the west with the
subjugation of Bulgaria as his objective. This threw the Rus in
direct confrontation with the Byzantines. The campaign
in the Ball<ans was not nearly as successful as the one
in the steppes, and in 969 Sviatoslav had was forced
to negotiate with the Emperor and retire from Eastern
Europe. On his way home, Pechenegs, most lil<ely in the
pay of the Byzantines who feared this ambitious Prince,
ambushed him. lt is said that his sl<ull made a drinl<ing
chalice for the Pecheneg Khan.

Almost nothing /asted from his conquests, as he never took time

to consolidate them. His sons waged war against each other,
shattering what was the largest kingdom in Europe in the 10th
century.
Hero of the Viking Age: Unlike other Heroes of the Viking Age,
Sviatoslav the Prince of Kiev only generates two Saga Dice at
the start of each of his turn.
Pagan: Although his motherconverted to Christianity, Sviatoslav
remained Pagan, fearing that conversion might soften him and
lose the respect of his Varjazis. His determination to maintain
his reputation had no equal. During any melee fought within M
of Sviatoslav, any unit in his warband that doesn't score at least
one hit during step 4 takes one extra FATIGUE during step 7.

During any me lee fo ught within M[ of Sviatoslav, any unit in his

warband that scores at least four hits during step 4 discards all
FATIGUE at the end of step 7

Below yo u will find a description of the various abilities available

to the Pagan Rus player on their Battleboard. We will not deal
with the first column of abilities as they are similar to those used
throughout Saga: the first three are intended to actvate the
different classes of models of an Rus warband, while the last two
being the usual Activation Pool and the Combat Pool.

For the Khagan!

Used during step 3 of any melee
This ability will be especially useful with your Varjazis or
Warlord, or against an enemy with FATIGUE. When these dice
are spent, you compare the Armour value of your target unit
with the Armour value of each enemy unit involved in this
Melee. lf your unit's Armour is superior to the Armour of all
the enemy units, then your unit gains 3 Attack Dice (5 if the
relevant dice was spent). With a good cost versus effectiveness
ratio, this ability will see frequent use.

The Great Winter

Used during your Orders Phase

Steppe mercenaries: During his campaigns, Sviatoslav made

great use of Oghuz and Pecheneg mercenaries. Hence, any
warband led by him m ay include any number of Steppe Nomads
Swords for Hire, as long as the number of these units does not
exceed the number of Varjazis units deployed on the table.
Conqueror: The Prince of Kiev was always on the move, never
giving any respite to his enemies. At the start of his turn, the
player controlling Sviatoslav m ay decide that his Warlord won't
generate any Saga dice. lf he chooses to do so, at the start of
an opposing player's next turn, he may designate up to two
units in that player's warband. These units will not generate
Saga Dice 2t the start of this turn.

Some play-testers felt that this ability actually characterizes

the Rus and so the ability was centra l to their tactics. This
ability simply limits the movement and shooting range of all
units on the board to . Note that this does not constitute a
reduction of movement or shooting distance, as but rather
that it is rather a limitation imposed u pon these distances. This
has sorne importance when interacting with other abilities,
such as the Welsh Children of the Land ability. This al so means
that a unit moving in rough terrain would still move at S, as
this movement does not exceed the limitation created by The
Great Winter. On the other hand, The Great Winter would de
facto make any ability that would increase the movement of a
troop useless.
Obviously, warbands that rely on shooting and/or mounted
troops will hate this ability!

Standing like Bears

Frozen

Used during step 3 of any melee

Used during an ene my Activation Phase

Standing like Bears is a good and cheap defensive ability that

will prevent those using it from causing much damage, but
should dramatically the number of hits they will take. When
using it, you have the choice of either discarding 3 Attack Dice
to increase your Armour value by one or to discard 8 Attack
Dice to increase your Armour by two. Of course you can only
discard dice yo u actually have!

Frozen is a very useful ability against warbands that would

make use of mu ltiple activations per turn. lt is used once an
activation (that must be the second or subsequent activation
of the target unit) is declared but before it is resolved. lt
cancels the activation and the target unit cannot be activated
aga in this turn.

This ability, combined with For the Khagan! or Bitting like

Wolves can turn the tide of most melees.

Usually, yo u will not get to use Frozen, as the simple fact that it
is ready to use will prevent your opponent planning more than
a single activation for each of his units.

Biting like Wolves

Cold winds

Used during step 3) of any Melee

Used during step 2 of an enemy shooting

This ability has two distinctive effects. Both are resolved at the
end of the step 4 of the Me lee.

This ability will turn shooting against the shooter. lt is used

during step 2 but its effects will be enforced during step 3 For
each die that rolls a 6 (that is, before any modifier is applied)
the shooti ng unit takes a FATIGU E. lf the relevant die is used to
pay for this ability, the ss rolled al so produce this effect. Nasty.

First, if all enemy units engaged in this Me lee have at least one
FATIGUE, then your unit adds three extra hits to the hits scored .
Secondly, if your unit did not suffer any hits during this step, it
adds a number of extra hits equal to its current Armour.
In both cases, the extra hits may be targeted against any enemy
unit involved in the Melee. And yes, it is possible to focus all
these hits on a single enemy unit, a Warlord for example. Bites
from Russian wolves are deadly indeed ......

Fear of the Dark

Used during your activation phase
This one is a terrible ability that will dictate the deployment and
movements of enemy units. When used, you must designate
an enemy unit that is more than Ml away from any unit (friends
or foes). You simply give the target unit enough FATIGUES to
make it immediately exhausted. Soon, you will see the enemy
deploy shoulder to shoulder, like a flock of sheep cornered by
wolves.

Yo u resolve each of these Shootings one ata time, in any order

you want. During these Shootings you generate 6 Attack Dice,
but there is no shooting unit (your Warlord just indicates the
epi centre of this madness, he is not the shooter), so any ability
that requires a shooting unit or that affects it Shooting has no
effect.
Also, as your Warlord is within Ml of himself, he will be affected
too!

Barren Lands
Used either during your Orders Phase or during an enemy
Orders Phase
Barren Lands is a very focussed ability that targets mounted
troops. Once used, it reduces by one the Armour values of all
mounted troops against shooting and in melee for the whole
turn. Quite simple, but this will probably make the Byzantines,
Normans or Strathclyde Welsh think twice befare invading the
lands of the Rus ...

'
Ragnar speaks ...

Endless Wastes
Used during your Activation Phase
Another deadly ability if it is used with the right timing. Once
used, it affects al! units on the table, including your own. All
units, except Warlords, must immediately eliminate one model
for each FATIGUE it has.
Combined with Fear of the Dark, the result on a Hearthguard
enemy unit can be devastating!

Eastern Anger
Used during your Activation Phase
You will not use Eastern Anger too often, but when
used properly, the results can be devastating.
When the dice are spent, you immediately resolve
a Shooting against each unit within Ml of your
Warlord, including your own! Please note that
despite being used during the Activation
Phase, this does not constitute an activation
and may not be cancelled by any game effect
that cancels an activation.

Russia is a terrible country. 1t is cold,

colder that our North, populated
with harsh people in an inhospitable
landscape. This is exactly what you
will feel when facing the Pagan Rus.
Your movement will be limited, any
mistake will be paid for dearly and
once you finaffy manage to catch
them, they've got more than a one trick to use.

Some of their abilities combine reaffy weff, and they

are usuaffy a quite a defensive warband, ready to
exploit any of your weakness. The Great Winter wiff be
used almost every turn, especiaffy if their enemy fields
any mounted units, and they wiff make great efforts
to split his an enemy warband, making it possible to
exploit their foe's Fear of the Dark.
The other abifities focus on defending and counter
attacking. There are many combinations to explore,
but Standing like Bears with For the Khagan! is an
obvious and very effective one.
1 might add that javelinmen, despite being
brittle, are quite useful in a Pagan Rus
warband, as the reduction of shooting range
has less impact on javelins than on bows. 1
hate writing that but overlooking these pet
slaves would be a mistake.

Lhe Rus J)Rinces

In 988AD, Prince Vladimir the Great of Novgorod and Kiev

converted to Christianity. Although his conversion was to ensure
his marriage to a Byzantium princess, this once proud and
rampant Pagan embraced his new Christianity. He ruthlessly tore
down his kingdom's Pagan idols and sites of worship and built
many churches. Mass conversion of the Kievan Rus unsurprisingly
followed.

Their equipment and training largely depended on the wealth

of their city. Larger towns could provide reliable equipment to
their mustered troops while poor or insignificant ones would
have to improvise with the available material. Tribal levies
could join the urban militias, and these tribal Voi were known
as Smerds, meaning peasants. Their motivation and loyalty was
not above question, obviously.

V/adimir and his family fought many campaigns against

Byzantium, Croats, Pechenegs as we/1 as his fellow Rus as he
sought to make Kiev the pre-eminent city of the regan.

The militias fighting with spears and shields form the Warriors
of your warband, while the ones that are equipped with bows
are your Levies.

During this period, mounted followers of the Princes rep/aced

the Varjazis as the nucleus of Rus armies. Foot militias supported
the mounted elite, fighting in shieldwal/s or armed with bows.
Mounted archers, drawn from the ranks of the steppe nomads,
were a frequent sight in these armies, and were used even against
their fellows.
Your Warlord is a Prince of a Russian city ora Voevodo (mi litary
commander). He holds great power and maintains his own
bodyguard of Druzhinas.
The Druzhinas formed the professional soldiers that made up
the core of the standing armies of the Rus Princes. Druzhina
means "fellowship" and its members are Drugs ( comrades)
who shared an oath and were death-bound to their lord. With
the flow of Scandinavian immigrants drying up and the mixing
of Norse and Russian blood, Druzhina are mainly of Slavic
origin, though foreigners could join them from time to time.
These Druzhinas are the Hearthguards of your warband.
Urban Militias were by far the most numerous component of
the Rus armies in our period. They had their own commanders.

lFACTUON RUlUE
Sorne Rus units may be fielded mounted. Mounted units are
subject to the following special rules:
- The Movement of mounted units is increased to L but
reduced to when moving from, through, or into uneven
ground.
- Mounted units may never enter a building but they can
engage in melee any unit occupying a building in the normal
manner.
- The Armour of mounted units is reduced by one when they
are the target of a Shooting attack.
- Mounted units may never benefit from any kind of cover, in
me lee or shooting.

Apart from the restrictions mentioned above, mounted units

behave like ordinary units. lf a unit starts the game mounted,
it must remain mounted for the whole game and may never
dismount.

Black Hoods: The Black Hoods are subject to the rules of the
Steppe Nomads with the following changes and additional
benefits:
- They count as Warriors rather than Levies.

Rus Warlords and Hearthguards are mounted.

- They generate one Saga Die at the start of each turn.

- They have an Armour of 4, reduced to 3 against
shooting (as usual for mounted units).

Rus Warriors are not subject to any special rules.

Rus Levies are armed with bows.

- They are considered as Druzhina for the sake

of using Rus Saga abilities.

Unless otherwise specified, Rus warban ds

may include only Steppe Nomad Swords
for Hire units.

- They generate one Attack Die per mode/ in

melee.

THUNDJER
OJF THJE VJ[JKJNG AGJE
The Malaia Druzhina,
lron Fist of the Rus
Princes
The Druzhina were divided into
two classes: the Grid (Junior) Druzhinas
and the Malaia Druzhinas. The Malaia were
veterans of war, hardened by their conflict with the
steppe nomads, the Byzantines or rival cities. They were the bestequipped troops at the disposa/ of a Prince, and would follow
him un ti/ death, through years of success, i/1 fortune or failure.

Thunders of the Viking Age: You may upgrade a single unit of

your Druzhina Hearthguards to Malaia Druzhina. This unit cannot
exceed 8 models and this upgrade wi/1 cost yo u one point.
Veterans: A unit of Ma/aia Druzhina generates two Saga Dice at
the start of each turn, rather than one like any other unit. They
are mounted, and equipped with bows. Due to their superior
training and experience, neither their mounted status nor bows
reduce their armour in any way. They ha vean Armour of 5 against
shooting and in melee, lil<e foot Hearthguards.

lron Fist: The Malaia Druzhina unit benefits from the Warlord
Determination, as described page 37 of the Saga rulebook. lt al so
cancels the first hit suffered during each shooting or melee, in
the same way as the Warlord Resilence rule (see Saga page 37).
When the last model of the Malaia Druzhina is removed as a casua/ty,
al/ other units in their warband immediately take one FATIGUE,
in addition to any FATIGUE caused by the fact that the unit was
removed from the tab/e ( e.g. if it was eliminated in melee).

The Chernye Klobuki, The Black Hoods

The Chernye K/obuki (also spelled Chrrni Klobuki) were seminomadic Turkish tribesmen of the Ros river basin who fought as
mercenaries for the Rus Princes during the 11th and 12th century.
They were established south of Kiev in the north of the territories
of the Kipchaks. The tri be was made original/y of immigrants that
had fled their homeland when rival steppe tri bes invaded. Their
characteristic feature was a black hood from which they derived
their na me. They were much wealthier than other tribes, hence
better equipped, and were highly va/ued as auxilia res.

Thunders of the Viking Age: lf your warband includes a unit of

Steppe Nomads, you may upgrade this unit to Chernye Klobuki
for an ex tra one point.

AGA AJ[:),][JUTJ[JE DJECRJ[JPlTJ[ON

Below yo u wi/1 find a description of the various abilities available
to the Pagan Rus player on their battleboard. We wi/1 not dea/
with the first column of abilities as they are similar to those used
throughout Saga: the first three are intended to actvate the
different classes of models of an Rus warband, while the last two
being the usual Activation Pool and the Combat Pool.

lf this symbol appears in the ability description box,

it indicates that it only Dru zhina and the Warlord
may use it.

Princes of Winter
Used during an opponent's Orders Phase
Jt is w ell known that the main drawback of mounted models
is their weakness against shooting. Princes of Winter offers a
cheap way of protecting your Druzhina, and to a lesser extent
your Warlord, against ranged attacks. When this ability is used,
until the end of yo ur opponent's turn, your unit's Armour
against shooting is increased by t wo, to a maximum of 6.
This simply means that they wi ll have an Armour of 6, leaving
them free to outmanoeuvre the enemy without getting too
anxious about those nasty shooters.

Grey Wolves
Used during your Orders Phase
Grey Wolves is a good and effective ability. lt will usually work
quite differently if your unit is attacking or if it is attacked.
Simply said, if none of the un its engaged in this melee has any
FATIGUE markers, then it wi ll give you 4 extra Attack Dice.

lf your unit has FATIGUE, your opponent will have to make

a difficult decision; either take off your FATIGUE to gain its
benefits but giving you 4 extra Attack Dice, or leave you with
the FATIGUE. In both cases, the Rus are winners!

Under the Dark Skies

2 of a Shooting

Used during step

This ability is meant to disrupt an enemy's plans. Used during

your Shooting, it will force the enemy to make a disengagement
movement if the target unit suffers at least one casualty.
This movement is made with the same constraints as a

disengagement movement in Melee (see Saga page 27) except

that if it cannot be performed, the shooting unit does not have
to disengage instead.
Useful to push back a vindictive enemy, orto push out of the way
so me unit left near their Warlord to actas meat for a his Resilience.

The Power of Steel

Used during step 3) of any Melee
The Power of Steel will punish those players who enjoy piling
up loads of Saga abilities and have in their hands a shedload of
Attack Dice. Simply said, it reduces the number of Attack Dice
the enemy has to the number of Attack Dice your own unit has.
lt prevents your unit gaining new Attack Dice during this Melee,
but depriving an enemy his Attack Dice advantage is invaluable.

The Power of Blood

Used either during step 3 of a melee or during step
2 of an enemy's shooting.
The Power of Blood is a unique Saga ability that can change
the way a Melee or Shooting is done. lt may only be used
by Hearthguards, fortunately. During the relevant step of
the Shooting or the Melee, when this ability is used, you
must also discard between one and six Saga Dice from your
Battleboard. These dice m ay come from any ability but the die
discarded for paying for the Power of Blood does not count
toward that number.

For each die discarded in this way, you may designate one
Hearthguard figure. This figure cannot be killed during this
Melee or Shooting. "Cannot" is here an absolute: nothing
can override that effect. This effect also affects you in that
you may not choose as casualties any models that cannot be
killed as a result of this ability. So, if your unit is made of 6
models and you discarded four dice, the casualties suffered
must first be selected from the two models that may be
killed before moving to the "immortal" ones that will simply
cancel the casualties.
Of course, discarding 6 dice for a unit made of 6 models
means that your unit will not take any casualties during this
melee or shooting. Your opponent may still roll his Attack
Dice if he likes the sound of the cubes on the table or if any
other game effects depend on the number of hits scored.
Also, note that models that cannot be killed cannot be
sacrificed to save a Warlord making use of his Resilience
special rule. This cost the life of at least one proud Russian
Warlord during the playtest, so be careful!

Winds of Despair

Bodyguard

Used during step 3 of a melee

Used either during step 3 of a melee

Winds of Despair require that your unit wins this Melee

and forces the enemy to disengage to ha ve any effect. lt is
al so useless on units of more than 3 models or against
a Warlord. But any other unit of 3 or less models is
simply eliminated instead of disengaging. lt might not
be very useful in the early turns, but can dramatically
change the ti de of the game in the final stages.

Parting Blow
Used during your activation phase
A useful ability restricted to your Druzhina or your Warlord that
will surprise an opponent or soften his unit before engaging
melee. When used, it leaves you the choice of activating your
unit for a Movement or for a Shooting. lf activated to move,
it will shoot as if equipped with javelins at the end of this
Movement (and that Movement may not be used to engage
melee). lf activated to shoot it will be considered as equipped
with bows for this Shooting.

This ability makes the coupling of Warlord and Druzhina

extremely effective. lt is used during the step 3 of a
Melee involving your Warlord. Until the end of this
Melee, any time your Warlord takes off a nearby
friendly model to avoid being killed, you roll one
die. lf you roll less than the Armour (in melee) of
the sacrificed figure, it is not eliminated but the
original hit remains cancelled. So used in conjunction
with Druzhina, hits absorbed with Resilience will be cancelled
on roll of 4 or less. Of course, if the model to be sacrificed is
himself engaged in the me lee, the Armour val u e to consider is
its current value, that may have been modified by Saga abilities
or FATIGUE.

In both cases this activation will not generate any FATIGUE,

making it useful after your unit has manoeuvred around the
enemy.

Hardened
Used during your Orders phase
Hardened is a very good ability that will dictate the way your
Saga Dice are used during this turn. When used, it will boost
all Saga Dice spent from the Combat Pool that display either a
horse ora helmet. Both will grant you with an extra Attack and
an extra Defence Die. So with Hardened triggered, any horse
discarded for the Combat pool will give you two Attack Dice
and a Defence Dice or one Attack Dice and two Defence Dice.
Note that if used during an enemy's Shooting, gaining Attack
Dice is rather useless!
And if yo u use a helmet to pay for this ability, each time yo u use
a horse or helmet Saga Die in the combat pool yo u will gain two
extra Attack Dice and two extra Defence Dice!

The Long Dark

Used during your Orders phase
The Long Dark is an ability really different to the ones Saga
players are used to dealing with. lt is used during your
Orders phase, and only if you have not used an Orders ability
previously. When u sed, yo u must immediately discard all Saga
Dice from your Battleboard, which is a high price to pay. But
during the forthcoming Activation Phase, all your Rus units
will get any number of activations for free (but won't be
able to Rest however) and generate two extra Attack Dice
in Melee. At the end of the turn, each of your units receives
one FATIGUE that comes in addition to the FATIGUES gained
during the turn.

Ragnar speaks...

Do not think for a minute that

Christianity has softened in any way
our Rus. They emerged from their
conversion tougher than ever, and
mounted on powerful horses.
The warband is radical/y different
from their Pagan predecessor,
relying on mobility and shooting
to sea/ dominance on their enemies. By studying the
Battleboard you wi/1 have noticed that quite a lot
of abilities make them hard nuts to crack Between
Prince of Winter that almost make their elite almost
invulnerable to shooting, the Power of Blood which
prevents you from killing them and Bodyguard
that ensures that the Druzhina wi/1 suffer loads of
punishment for their Warlord, you should be ready
to fight a long struggle against them. As a Rus, you
should ensure that your opponent pays the high price
for any melee he engages. Using the aforementioned
abilities should ensure that he wi/1 suffer the attrition
much more than you do. Then, when weakened it wi/1
be time to let The Long Dark fa// and deliver the killing
blow. At least, that is the plan. And Rus have plenty
tricks in their pockets to ensure that everything wi/1
work according to the plan.

Lhe ByMIDtines

The Byzantine Empire came into being when the Roman Empire
was split into two parts by Diocletian in 285. Following this great
leaders like Constantine and Justinian enabled the Empire to grow
and become powerful. However, like a/1 Em pires it also went through
many upheavals and reversals of fortune until eventually it fe/1

in1453.
For over 1000 years the Byzantines fought off many enemies,
including the Slavs, the Bulgars, the Rus and notably the armies
of Islam from the East. The 4th Crusader army first breached the
Harbour walls in 1204 but it was the Turks who finally tare down
the great walls and invaded the great city. Militarily the Byzantines
adopted the thematic system to protect their territories, dividing
the Empire into fortified provinces, the themes. Each theme was
militarily and administratively independent and supplemented
when needed by the central field army, the tagmata, based around
Constantinople, the cultural and economic centre of the Empire.

The commander of a Theme was a Strategos, assisted in his duty

by various ranks of officers, from the Comites to the Drungarios. lt
is likely that your Warlord is such an officer with a long service in
the Byzantine army.
The cavalry was the most prestigious arm of the Byzantine army.
Their deployment and tactics were strictly organised and their
equipment provided by the central authority. lt consisted of a
kontarion (a long spear about 10 feet long) ora bow, a sword, a
shield, and a lamellar body protection. These Kavallaroi are the
Hearthguards of your warband.

infantry formations. They were more often than not irregulars,

subjects of the Byzantines. These are the Levies of your warband.

lFACTJ[ON RUJLJE
Many Byzantine units may be fielded mounted. Mounted units
are subject to the following special rules:
- The Movement of a mounted unit is increased to JL but
reduced to when moving from, through, or into an
uneven ground.
- Mounted units may never enter a building, but they can
engage in melee any units occupying a building in the
normal manner.
- The Armour of mounted unit is reduced by one when they
are the target of a Shooting attack.
- Mounted units may never benefit from any kind of cover, in
melee or shooting.
Apart from the restrictions mentioned above, mounted units
behave like ordinary units. lf a unit starts the game mounted,
it must remain mounted for the whole game and may never
dismount.
Byzantine Warlords and Hearthguards are mounted.
Hearthguards may be equipped with bows, but due to their
small shields and light body armour, their Armour in melee is
reduced to 4

The bulk of the Byzantine army was made of professional soldiers,

fully equipped and well trained. They fought on foot, either with
spears and large shields- Kontaratoi; oras archers- Toxotai. These
are the Warriors of your Byzantine force.

Byzantine Warriors may have bows or spears. Given their lack

of protection, bow-armed Warriors ha ve an Armour value of 3
Spear-armed Warriors are not subject to any special rules.

lt was a common practice to have sorne skirmishers ahead of the

Byzantine warbands may never recruit Swords for Hire.

Byzantine Levies have javelins.

JH[JEROJE OJF lrHJE JB\YZA\NlrUNJE AGJE

The Warlord below may lead any Byzantine warband. Unlike
the usual Warlord, the Basileus costs 1pt, like the Heroes of the
Viking Age. lf a scenario needs to determine how many victory
points the Basileus is worth, it is considered as a Warlord that is
worth one extra victory point.

The Basileus
The Basileus was the Byzantine Emperor. This name replaced
the Roman title of Augustus in 629, and was used from Justinian
11 onward. The Emperor wears the colour purple that clearly
demonstrates his status as leader of the Eastern Roman Empire,
and governs one of the most civilised Empire of his time.
Unlike other Heroes of the Viking Age, the Basileus represents
al/ Byzantine Emperors that ruled the Eastern Empire from the
7'h century up to the 11'h century and is designed to portray al/
Emperors from Justinian 11 up to Basil Bulgaroktonos.
Hero of the Byzantine Empire: As the most important character
of the East, the Basileus generates three SAGA dice at the start
of each turn, and not two as other Warlords.
The Emperor: The Basileus has an Armour value of 4 and only
generates one Attack die in melee. He is also not subject to
the "Warlord's Pride" special rule. lf the Basileus is removed as
a casualty, the game ends immediately, and all other friendly
Byzantine figures on the tab le are considered as having been
killed. The Basileus is always mounted, as you would expect as
the ruler of the East.
Imperial Bodyguard: A warband that is led by the Basileus
may only field Hearthguards.
Varangoi: Varangians were Norse or Anglo-Saxon
mercenaries that served in the Emperor's Bodyguard .
Any number of Hearthguards in a warband led by the
Basi leus may be upgraded to Varangians. Varangian
Hearthguards fight on foot and have a base Armour
of 6; t hey may also be armed with Dane axes (see
rulebook page 43). A Varangian unit that starts any
Movement Activation more than M[ away from

the Basileus takes a FATIGUE at the start of that Activation.

A Varangian unit that ends any Movement Activation more
than M away from the Basileus takes a FATIGU E at the end of
that Activation.
Kataphractoi: Kataphractoi were the heaviest cavalry
employed by the Byzantines and rode armoured horses. Any
number of Hearthguards in a warband led by the Basileus
may be upgraded to Kataphractoi. Kataphractoi have an
Armour of 6 (reduced to 5 when shot at as other mounted
models). Kataphractoi units take one additional FATIGUE for
every movement activation after the first (i.e. they take two
FATIGUES after their second movement and two FATIGUES
after their third movement).

Harald Hardrada,
Capta in of the Varangian Guard
Harald spent nearly ten years in the service of the Byzantine
emperors during which time his legendary leadership, loyalty,
martial prowess and rugged good-looks ensured he quickly
attained an enviable reputation. He led the Varangians on
campaign throughout the Empire, serving as far afield as
Jerusalem and Sicily. He amassed great personal wealth through
battle-plunder and 'loyalty bonuses' from successive Emperors.
Eventual/y imprisoned by Michael V, who was concerned by
Harald's loyalty to the previous Emperor ( although other sources,
and no doubt Harald himself, would have it that it was because
he spurned the advances of powerful Empress Zoe .. .) Harald
escaped and fled back to Scandinavia where he used his riches to
finance his reclaiming of the Norwegian throne.
Hero of the Viking Age: Unlike other Heroes of the Viking
Age, Harald Hardrada on ly generates one Saga Die
at the start of each of his turn. He may, at the
start of his turn, take one or two FATIGUE to
generate a number of extra Saga Dice equal to
the number of FATIGUES taken this way.
Pagan: Despite being Captain of the Guard of
Byzantium, Harald was a pagan, and was trained
in the Old Norse ways. The Saga Dice generated

by Harald are Runic Dice (also known as Viking Dice, see Saga
page 6) and may be used on the Viking Battleboard. Hence,
a warband led by Harald will use t w o Battleboards, one
Byzantine and one Viking.
Saga Dice generated by Varangians may be either Runic or
Continental Dice (also know n as Norman Dice see Saga page
6 ), as chosen by their controlling pla yer at the start of each
turn. Saga Dice generated by other units in Harald's w arband
must be Continental Dice .
Varangians: Any Hearthguard unit in Harald's w arband must
fight on foot and may be equ ipped w ith Dane-a xes (see Saga
page 43). Thanks to their shiny equipment pa id for w ith the
Byzantine gold, these Hearthguards have an Armour of 6, in
melee and against shooting. The number of Hearthguards
figures in Harald's w arband may not exceed the number of
models of other classes . A w arband led by Harald may never
include any mounted model.

AG A AJB\J[JUTJ[JE DJECRUJPlTJ[ON
IMPORTANT : You may have noticed that no Byzantine ab ility
starts w ith either " Discard this d ie" or " Discard these d ice" . We
have removed these sentences to have more space w ith in the
ability boxes for their description. Th is does not mean that the
relevant dice are not discarded. Consider that each of the ability
start w ith the relevant sentence, and that the die or combination
of dice MUST be discarded in arder to use the ability.
The rules of the first column of Saga abilities are described page
so of the Saga rulebook.

MASSED ARCHERY
Used during your Activation Phase
This ability wi/1 help you mimic some of the actual tactics used
by the Byzantines and their bow men. This ability activates two
units (this may be any units, mounted or dismounted, levies,
Hearthguards or Warriors) and they are activated for Shooting.
When this Shooting is resolved, during step 1, you may ignore
any friendly unit that would otherwise block the line of sight
between the shooters and their target. An ability clearly useful
for units of bow-armed Warriors that would be deployed behind
a screen of spearmen .

STRATEGIKON
Used during Step 3 of any Me lee
Strategikon is an ability that is real/y useful, but wi/1 necessit ate a
bit of planning and w i/1 usual/y be more frequently used w hen one
of your units are engaged in melee. W hen the dice are discarded,
you must designate a friendly unit that does not take part in th is
melee. The unit that uses Strategikon gains a number of Attack or
Defence Dice (ora mix of both) equal to half the number of dice
generated by the models of the designated unit that are w ithin
of your unit. So, for example, if you have three Hearthguard
models w ith in of one or more of the models of your unit, you' /1
gain 3 d ice. The best use of this ability is w ith a deployment of
t wo units one behind the other, w ith the frontal unit gaining dice
for the presence of their comrades beh ind.

SCOUTING
Used during your Activat ion Phase
Moving levy units is always a problem in any army, but by using
one dice the Byzantine commander can activate t hree levy
units at once; these activations have the added benefit of not
generating fatigue . Usef ul if you've moved levy units up earlier in
the turn and yo u now want to m ove them out of danger la ter on,
or if you want to concentrate fire from mult iple
units onto an enemy

SUPPORT ARCHERS
Used during step 3 of any Melee
A surpnsmg ability, Support Archers
al/ow s the Byzantine player to resolve a
Shooting during a melee. After the dice are
discarded, yo u must designate a bowarmed friendly unit that is w ithin
M[ of any unit in volved in this melee.
You immediately resolve a Shooting,
w ith the designated unit as shooters,
and one of the enemy units engaged in
this melee as the target. This is resolved like a standard shooting
sequence, with the notable exception that any of your units
engaged in this melee are ignored when it comes to determining
the line of sight between the shooters and their target.
Note that the unit of " support archers" is not activated for a
shooting, and any ability that affects a Shooting Activation is of
no use. This shooting sequence, though inc/uded in the me lee, is a
separate sequence entirely; hence the casualties inflicted are not
added to the casualties taken during the me lee to determine who
wi/1 fa// back.

KONTOS
Used during your Activation Phase
The most expensive ability of the Byzantine Battleboard, Kontos
is also a deadly one! lt activates one of your mounted units
(that is not equipped with bows) for a Movement. lf with this
movement, your unit engages an enemy unit, you immediately

ro/1 one die for each of your model that is in base-to-ba se contact
with an enemy model. For each die that scores a 4 or more, you
wi/1 gain one extra hit during the forthcoming melee. These
hits are added to the hits you score during step 4 of the me/ee.
With a good sized unit of eight Hearthguards, you can expect a
bloodbath for your opponent!

WITHDRAWAL
Used du ri ng step 3 of the M elee.
Apparently, W ithdra w al doesn't loo k /ike a very useful ab ility. But
a clase study wi/1 reveal that it is actually rea/ly pow erful when
used properly. When the die is discarded, yo u designate a friendly
unit of mounted mode/s engaged in th is melee. During step 8
your unit w i/1 disengage, even if the opponent was also forced
to disengage dueto the me lee outcome. lf both the attacker and
the defender have to disengage, the attacker mo ves first. Also,
the movement of th is d isengagement move is JL, rather than the
usual .
You can see t wo different uses f or th is ability. lf you expect to
lose the melee, it means that the increase of movemen t of t he
disengagement w i/1 bring your un it far aw ay f rom the enemy into
a safer position. lf you pla n to win that melee, the fact that you
w i/1 disengage at a long distance w i/1 bring your unit far aw ay
from any enemy counter-attack in his o wn turn. Do not over/ook
this ability; it is one of the most useful on the who/e Byzantine
Battleboard!

COMMON EFFORTS
Used during your O rders Phase or during any e nemy's Orders
Phase
This is a cheap but potentially very useful ability. You may use it
during your Orders Phase or during any opponent's one. Choose
one of your units, take up to two FATIGUES from that unit and
place them on any friendly unit with in . Non e of these units may
be le vies.
Of course, the FATIGUES are not discarded or taken-off, but
removing t w o FATIGUES from you r Heart hguards and put them
on that four mode/ strong Warrior unit remains inva/uab/e.

BASILEUS
Used during your Activation Phase
Th is is an ab ility that demonstrates the highly organized military
structure of the Byzantines. When these d ice are discarded,
you may des ignate any number of units, a/1 with in lL of you r
Warlord. A/1 these un its are activated, and these activat ions wi /1
not generate any FATIGUE w hen resolved. lmmediately after the
units have been designated, but befare their Activations are
reso lved, place on your Warlord a number of FATIGUES equal to
the number of units that benefited from th is ability. This ability is
best kept to unleash the decisive blow to the enemy!

FRIENDLY SHIELDS
Used during step 3 of the M elee.

Friend/y Sh ields is another c/early defensive abilit y. The die is

discarded during step 3 of the melee, but the abilit y won't have
any effect until step 6. When yo u cometo step 6, yo u m ay cancel
each casualty sustained by removing a friendly non-levy figure
that is within of the unit that benefited from the ability. De
facto, it means that yo u trade the casualties suffered by your unit
with models taken from a friendl y un it. Very interesting if you
remove Warriors to avoid /osing your precious Hearthguards!

MUTUAL SUPPORT
Used during the enemy's Activat ion Phase
This ability is u sed in reaction toan enemy Movement Activation.
As soon asan enemy unit is activated for a movement w ithin .M[
of one of your bow-armed units, yo u discard the relevant die. For
this movement, the activated enemy units may not engage in
melee any of your bow-armed unit if he could engage a unit not
equipped with bows with this movement. How do es it work? lt is
quite easy. Befare your opponent moves his figures, check if he
would be able to engage a unit that is no t equ ipped with bows
(respecting a/1 the rules for engaging an enemy and movi ng).
lf that is the case, then any movement that w ould end with an
engagement of any of your bow-armed un its is forbidden for the
activated unit. Note that the restriction also may apply to you
as the Byzantine player. For example, if you have a spear armed
unit anda bow armed one in the same building, and you use this
ability, you won't be able to designate the bow-armed unit as the
unit acting as defender as this wou/d make the engagement of
the building impossible.

Ragnar speaks ...

The Byzantines /ove come on the
battlefie/d dressed in proper uniforms,
with each soldier aware of his role and
his task in the organisation of the force
and their general shouting orders that
are instantly fol/owed. Quite boring...
We/1, the Byzantine player cou/d make
a worse use of his time than studying
the Strategikon to /earn the proper
employment of his troops, as the Battleboard
is al/ about unit cooperation. A lone Byzantine unit is a help/ess
(and /ost) one. They shine when they support each other, as
most of their Saga abilities demonstrate. Deployment is the
key here, and ensuring at al/ times the battle line is drawn
according to the plan is vital if yo u want to be successful. They
are quite difficult and tricky to use, but very rewarding if you
/ike proper combat manoeuvres, the inter-arm approach and
al/ these things that 1never learnt.

:R hiRe Lhe Steppe Nomads

Eastern Euro pe and the endless Steppes of the Central Asia were
the homeland of a large number of Steppe nomads tri bes such as
the Avars, the Magyars or the Pechenegs.
On a regular basis, these tribes would sweep across Europe or
against the Rus, plundering and pillaging befare retiring safely
into their homelands.
They were valued as mercenaries, joining Rus and Byzantines as
auxiliaries, and were famous for their accuracy as archers, their
maneuverability and their cruelty.

Swords for Hire: The Steppe Nomads may be

included in any Pagan Rus, Rus Princes or
Byzantine Warband (that are not led by the
Basileus or Ha raid Hardrada) for one point.
Nomads: The Steppe Nomads are made
of 8 mounted models that count as
Levies. As Levies, they do not generate
any Saga dice, but may be activated or
benefit from any eligible Saga abilities on
your Battleboard. They have an Armour
of 3 in melee, 4 against Shooting

(reduced to 3 dueto being mounted). They

point per model, like Warriors .

are worth

Y, victory

Horsemen: Steppe Nomads are born in their saddles. When they

move as part of a movement activation (and do not engage
melee) their movement benefits from a S distance bonus, for a
movement of IL(or M)+. This bonus is never affected by terrain
or any FATIGUE spent.
lf the Nomads decide during the step 2 of the melee to reduce
their number of Attack Dice to gain Defence Dice, they must
discard ALL their Attack Dice to gain one Defence Die per Attack
Die discarded ( and not half the number of Attack Dice discarded
as it is usually the case) .

Short bow: Steppe Nomads are equipped with deadly short

bows. These short bows count as javelins (see Saga page 23), with
the exception that the Shooting may be performed either befare
or after the movement. The Nomads may not engage any enemy
unit if they shot during their Movement activation.
Eagle Eye: When shooting, the Steppe Nomads automatically
benefit from a +1 modifier to their Attack Dice rolls.

Varjazi & Basileus isa full colourmini supplement

for the SAGA rules and is the last one to cover
the factions of the Viking Age.
Contained within are all the rules and
background for three new factions, one of
which, the Byzantines, has already been the
subject of a article in a Wargames lllustrated
magazine. The other two are the Rus Pagan
and their successors, the Era of The Princes
Rus. Also included are a new Swords For Hire
unit, the dreaded Steppe Nomads, who can be
in the pay of all three of these factions, and a
new He ro Of The Viking Age for the Byzantines,
Harald Hardradda, Captain Of The Varangian
Guard.
We wanted to end this cycle with a bang so it
is presented in a card folder to hold your SAGA
Viking Age collection.
This full-colour folder can accommodate
your Battleboard collection, Rulebook and a
supplement.
Varjazi & Basileus also contains 3 Battleboards which can not be
sold separately. Varjazi & Basileus is not a complete rule-set as
you will also need the SAGA Rulebook.