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v R)AZ| tr DASLCUS
A Saga : Skinurfshes in cfre Oa* Ag.r supptenrenr
Factions designed by: Alex Buchel
Written by: Alex 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 Crand Manner
Thanks to Mike Hobbs and the lnner Sanctum for their help and play testing sessions.
Join the saga community and find our latests updates at http://studiotomahawk.freeforums.org/
Varjazi & Basileus is published by Cripping Beast under license from Studio Tomahawk SARL, i1 Nouvelle Cit, 67180 Lingolsheim.
sasa, skirmishes in the Dark Ages, Northern Fury, rhe -i;;[: & Basileus are o by Alex Buchel and Studio romahawk
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No part of this pubrication may be reproduci;i:il"_1"1iliilfl#:T:il,;J#:;il*"a, in anv form or anv rneans without
INOCX
Faction: The Pagan Rus.................... ....Pages 3 to 6
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The Rus kingdom emerged in the mid-gth century, carved out by IFA\Cll lt toN lRl,lUt lL lE ss
Norse traders and adventurers who had established settlements
dlong the main river routes and waterwdys into what is now Pagan Rus Warlords, Hearthguards and Warriors are not subject
northern modern Russia. to any special rule.
Pagan Rus Levies are armed with javelins.
The Rus ruled over the natve Slavs and Fnno-lJgarian subjects,
mixing their mythology, tradtons and culture with ther own. Unless otherwise specified, Pagan Rus may not include Swords
Russidn chrontcles name their first kng as Rurik who replaced the for Hire units.
Khazars as Lord of Kev and founded a dynasty that would rule
Russia until the later Middle Ages. ]HI]E]RI.IO]EsS O]F ]I]HI]B V]I]K]ING A\G]E
Your Warlord is an important noble likely to be a Norseman. He
Svatoslav I of Kiev, Prnce of Rus,
can be a local lord or even a warlike Khagan (a title derived from
the Khazars). Conqueror of the Khazars
Sviatoslav was born n the mid-gth centuty and was the son of lgor,
As was the tradition in the Norse culture, the Iords and leaders
Prnce of Kiev. As soon ds he succeeded to the throne, he looked
maintained a band of loyal followers and bodyguards. They were
east and south to expand the lands he had inherited from hs
likely to be of pure Scandivanian blood and were either called
Varjazi (Varangians) or Druzhina. They fought on foot, in tight father. lnfluenced by Byzantne emissaries, his attenton turned to
the Khazar Khaganate in theVolga valley and the Pontc steppes.
shieldwall formations. These Varjazi form the Hearthguards at
your disposal.
ln 965 AD Sviatoslav launched a lightenng cdmpdign and he
overthrew the rulers of Sarkel and Kerch, two of the major cties
Most troops fighting for the Rus warlords were Slavs or other of the Khazars, before destroying and burnng the Khazar captal
natives. Armed with spear and shield, these troops usually made of Atil. In one yedr, Sviatoslav had fragmented a nation that ruled
up the militia defending Novgorod, Kiev or any other major trade the steppes for four centuries.
city. They are your Warriors.
After the Khazar, the Prince of Kiev turned to the west wth the
The bow was not a favoured weapon of the early Rus, and was subjugation of Bulgaria as hs objective. Ths threw the Rus in
restricted to hunting during r direct confrontation with the Byzdntnes. The campaign
rh in the Balkans was not nearly as successful as the one
this period. From time to time, some scouts
in the steppes, and in 969 Sviatosldv had was forced
armed with javelins would loin a warband
to negotdte with the Emperor and retire from Eastern A.
and be despatched in front of the battle line. These
javelinmen form the Levy that your Warlord might muster. Europe. On his way home, Pechenegs, most ltkely in the
pay of the Byzantines who feared this ambitous Prnce,
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ambushed hm. lt s said that his skull made a drnkng
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chalce for the Pecheneg Khan.
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Almost nothng lasted from hs conquests, as he never took time s7\G'A\ A\lE ll lLIT]l lES DIBSCIRIPTIO\
to consoldate them. His sons waged wdr dganst each other,
shatterng what was the largest kingdom in Europe n the toth Below you will find a descrption of the varic -: :: : :-: : : ble
century. to the Pagan Rus player on their Bottleboc'c. .' =- -:: eal
Hero of the Viking Age: Unlike other Heroes of the Viking Age, with the fi rst column of ablites as they ar e -<.- : - : : : - -- j : -,sed
Sviatoslav the Prince of Kiev only generates two Saga Dice at throughout Saga: the first three are nterc,.: :: :-: ::: the
the start of each of his turn. different classes of models of an Ruswarbanc. , - : : -: ---.: :!i/o
being the usual Activaton Pool and the Comc-:: : - -
Pagan: Although his mother converted to Christianity, Sviatoslav
remained Pagan, fearing that conversion might soften him and
lose the respect of his Varjazis. His determination to maintain For the Khagan!
his reputation had no equal. During any melee fought within M[ Used duringstep j of ony melee
of Sviatoslav, any unit in his warband that doesn't score at least
This ability will be especially useful with ', : -- :- :: i or
one hit during step 4 takes one extra FATICUE during step 7.
Warlord, or against an enemy with FATIGUE. \,', ^=- :-=.= cice
During any melee fought within M[ of Sviatoslav, any unit in his are spent, you compare the Armour value of '. ---- ::-::: unit
warband that scores at least four hits during step 4 discards all with the Armour value of each enemy unit '^. : ,:: ^ this
FATIGUE at the end of step 7. Melee. If your unit's Armour is superior to th. :-.-:-- cf all
the enemy units, then your unit gains 3 Attaci l:. : f the
relevant dice was spent). With a good cost versu: ===:: . eness
ratio, this ability will see frequent use.
The GreatWnter
Used duringyour Orders Phase
ln 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 deadlv indeed......
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Ragnar speaks...
Russa is a terrble country. lt is cold,
colder that our North, poPulated
wth harsh people n an nhospitable
landscape. Ths is exactly what you
wll feel when facing the Pagan Rus.
Endless Wastes
Your movementwll be limited, any
Used duringyour Activation Phase
mistake will be pad for dearly and
Another deadly ability if it is used with the right timing. Once once you finally manage to catch
used, it affects all units on the table, including your own. All them, they've got more than a one trick to use.
units, except Warlords, must immedately eliminate one model
for each FATICUE it has. Some of their ablites combne really well, and they
are usually a quite a defensve warband, ready to
Combined with Fear of the Dark, the result on a Hearthguard
exploit any of your weakness. The GreatWnter will be
enemy unit can be devastatingl
used almost every turn, especally f ther enemy fields
any mounted unts, and they will make great efforts
Eastern Anger to splt his an enemy warband, makng it possible to
U sed during y our Activ ati on Ph ase exploittheir foe's Fear of the Dark.
You will not use Eastern Anger too often, but when The other abiltes focus on defendng and counter-
used properly, the results can be devastating. attackng. There are many combinatons to explore,
When the dice are spent, you immediately resolve
but Standing lke Bears with For the Khagan! is on
a Shooting against each unit within M[ of your
obvious and very effective one.
Warlord, including your ownl Please note that
despite being used during the Activation I might add thot javelnmen, despite beng
Phase, this does not constitute an activation brittle, are quite useful in a Pagan Rus
and may not be cancelled by any game effect warband, asthe reduction of shootingrange
that cancels an activation.
has less mpact on iavelns than on bows. I
hate writing thdt but overlookng these pet
slaves would be a mistake.
ffi: Cne Rus kt ces
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ln 7BBAD, Prnce Vladmr the Great of Novgorod and Kev Their equipment and training largely depended on the wealth
converted to Christanity. Although hs conversion wds to ensure of their city. Larger towns could provide reliable equipment to
his marriage to a Byzantium princess, ths once proud and their mustered troops while poor or insignificant ones would
rampdnt Pagan embraced hs new Christianity. He ruthlessly tore have to improvise with the available material. Tribal levies
down his kngdom's Pagan idols and stes of worship and bult could join the urban militias, and these tribal Voi were known
many churches. Mass converson of the Kievan Rus unsurprsingly as Smerds, meaning peasants. Their motivation and loyalty was
followed. not above question, obviously.
Vladimir and his family fought mdny campaigns against The militias fighting with spears and shields form the Warriors
Byzantium, Croats, Pechenegs as well as his fellow Rus as he of your warband, while the ones that are equipped with bows
sought to make Kev the pre-emnent city of the region. are your Levies.
the mounted elite, fightng in sheldwalls or armed wth bows. Some Rus units may be fielded mounted. Mounted units are
Mounted archers, drawn from the ranks of the steppe nomads,
subject to the following special rules:
were a f requent stght n these armies, and were used even dgdnst
their fellows.
- The Movement of mounted units is increased to lL but
Your Warlord is a Prince of a Russian city or a Voevodo (military reduced to SS when n-roving from, through, or into uneven
commander). He holds great power and maintains his own ground.
bodyguard of Druzhinas.
- Mounted units may never enter a building but they can
The Druzhinas formed the professional soldiers that made up melee any unit occupying a building in the normal
the core of the standing armies of the Rus Princes. Druzhina ilt"lt""r,,
means "fellowship" and its members are Drugs (comrades) - The Armour of mounted units is reduced by one when they
who shared an oath and were death-bound to their lord. With are the target of a Shooting attack.
the flow of Scandinavian immigrants drying up and the mixing
of Norse and Russian blood, Druzhina are mainly of Slavic - Mounted units may never benefit from any kind of cover, in
origin, though foreigners could .join them from time to time. melee or shooting.
These Druzhinas are the Hearthguards of your warband.
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Apart from the restrictions mentioned above, mounted units Black Hoods: Th Bhak are subfect't6:t};Le'iufes of the
behave like ordinary units. lf a unit starts the game mounted, Steppe Nomods with the followng change and additonoi
it must remain mounted for the whole game and may never benefits:
dismount. - They count as Warriors rather than Levies
Rus Warlords and Hearthguards are mounted. They generate one Saga De at the start of each turn.
Rus Warriors are not subject to any special rules. 'They have an Armour of 4, reduced to 3 agansi
shootng (as usual for mounted unts).
Rus Levies are armed with bows.
They are considered as Druzhna for the sake
Unless otherwise specified, Rus warbands f *:-
of usng Rus Saga abilities.
may include only Steppe Nomad Swords - They generate one Attack Die per model in
for Hire units. melee.
lron Fist: The Mdlaa Druzhina unt benefits from the Warlord
Determnaton, as descrbed page j7 of the Saga rulebook. It also
Princes of Wnter
cancels the first ht suffered durng each shootng or melee, in
Used during an opponent's Orders Phdse
the same way as theWarlord Resilence rule (see Saga page j7).
Itis well known that the main drawback of mounted models
When thelast model of the Malaa Druzhina s removed as a casualty,
istheir weakness against shooting. Princes of Winter offers a
all other units in their warband mmedately take one FATIGUE,
cheap way of protecting your Druzhina, and to a lesser extent
n addition to any FATICUE caused by the fact that the unit was
your Warlord, against ranged attacks. When this ability is used,
removed from the table (e.g. f t was elmnated n melee).
until the end of your opponent's turn, your unit's Armour
The Chernye Klobuki,The Black Hoods against shooting is increased by two, to a maximum of 6.
The Chernye Klobuk (also spelled Chrrni Klobuk) were semi- This simply means that they will have an Armour of 6, leaving
nomadicTurksh tribesmen of the Ros rver basn who fought as them free to outmanoeuvre the enemy without getting too
mercenares for the Rus Princes durng the 11th dnd 12th century. anxious about those nasty shooters.
They were establshed south of Kiev in the north of the terrtores
of the Kpchaks. The trbe was made orginally of mmgrants that
GreyWolves
had fled ther homelond when rival steppe tribes invaded. Ther
Used duringyour Orders Phase
characterstcfeature wds a black hood from which they derved
their name. They were much wealthier than other tribes, hence Grey Wolves is a good and effective ability. lt will usually work
better equpped, and were hghly valued as auxiliaries. quite differently if your unit is attacking or if it is attacked.
.it
Simply said, if none of the units engaged in this melee has any
ihuqflers of the Viking Aget lf your warband tncludes o unt of
FATICUE markers, then it will give you 4 extra Attack Dice.
teEe Ngltrads, 1-rou may upgrade this unit to Chernye Klobuk
{or @1'extra qne point.
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lf your unii tras' FATICUE, your opponent will have to make The Power of Blood
a difficult decision; either take off your FATICUE to gain its Used ether during step j of a melee or during step
benefits but giving you 4 extra Attack Dice, or leave you with z of an enemy's shooting,
the FATICUE. In both cases, the Rus are winnersl
The Power of Blood is a unique Saga ability that can change
the way a Melee or Shooting is done. It may only be used
Under the DarkSkies by Hearthguards, fortunately. During the relevant step of
Used during step z of a Shooting the Shooting or the Melee, when this ability is used, you
This ability is meant to disrupt an enemy's plans. Used during
must also discard between one and six Saga Dice from your
your Shooting, it will force the enemy to make a disengagement
Battleboard. These dice may come from any ability but the die
movement if the target unit suffers at least one casualty. discarded for paying for the Power of Blood does not count
This movement is made with the same constraints as a
toward that number.
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disengagement movement in Melee (see Saga page z7) except For each die discarded in this way, you may designate one
that if it cannot be performed, the shooting unit does not have Hearthguard figure. This figure cannot be killed during this
to disengage instead. Melee or Shooting. "Cannot" is here an absolute: nothing
Useful to push back a vindictive enemy, or to push out of the way
can override that effect. This effect also affects you in that
you may not choose as casualties any models that cannot be
some unit Ieft near their Warlord to act as meat for a his Resilience.
killed as a result of this ability. So, if your unit is made of 6
models and you discarded four dice, the casualties suffered
The Power of Steel must first be selected from the two models that may be
Used during step j) of any Melee killed before moving to the "immortal" ones that will simply
cancel the casualties.
The Power of Steel will punish those players who enjoy piling
up loads of Saga abilities and have in their hands a shedload of Of course, discarding 6 dice for a unit made of 6 models
Attack Dice. Simply said, it reduces the number of Attack Dice means that your unit will not take any casualties during this
the enemy has to the number of Attack Dice your own unit has. melee or shooting. Your opponent may still roll his Attack
it prevents your unit gaining new Attack Dice during this Melee, Dice if he likes the sound of the cubes on the table or if any
rut depriving an enemy his Attack Dice advantage is invaluable. 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 li,
special rule. This cost the life of at least one proud Russian r\ii
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Warlord during the playtest, so be carefull
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Winds of Despar Bodyguard
Used during step j of a melee Used either during step j of a melee
Winds of Despair require that your unit wins this Melee This ability makes the coupling of Warlord and Druzhina
and forces the enemy to disengage to have any effect. lt is extremely effective. lt is used during the step 3 of a
also useless on units of more than 3 models or against Melee involving your Warlord. Until the end of this
a Warlord. But any other unit of 3 or less models is I Melee, any time your Warlord takes off a nearby
simply eliminated instead of disengaging. tt might not
'|' friendly model to avoid being killed, you roll one
be very useful in the early turns, but can dramatically ,,.,,t..t ..,,,. die. lf you roll less than the Armour (in melee) of
change the tide of the game in the final stages.
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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
PartingBlow on roll of 4 or less. Of course, if the model to be sacrificed is
Used durng your octivaton phase himself engaged in the melee, the Armour value to consider is
A useful ability restricted to your Druzhina or your Warlord that its current value, that may have been modified by Saga abilities
will surprise an opponent or soften his unit before engaging or FATI6UE.
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.
In both cases this activation will not generate any FATICUE,
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 Ragnar speaks...
all Saga Dice spent from the Combat Pool that display either a
horse or a helmet. Both will grant you with an extra Attack and Do not think for a mnute that
an extra Defence Die. So with Hardened triggered, any horse Chrstianity has softened n any way
discarded for the Combat pool will give you two Attack Dice our Rus. They emerged from their
and a Defence Dice or one Attack Dice and two Defence Dice. conversion tougher than ever, and
Note that if used during an enemy's Shooting, gaining Attack mounted on powerful horses.
Dice is rather uselessl The warband is radically dfferent
And if you use a helmet to pay for this ability, each time you use from their Pagan predecessor,
a horse or helmet Saga Die in the combat pool you will gain two relyng on moblty and shooting
extra Attack Dice and two extra Defence Dicel to seal domnance on their enemes. By studying the
Battleboard you will have noticed that quite a lot
of abilites make them hard nuts to crack. Between
The LongDark
Prince of Wnter that olmost make ther elite almost
Used duringyour Orders phase
invulnerable to shootng, the Power of Blood which
The Long Dark is an ability really different to the ones Saga prevents you from killing them and Bodyguard
players are used to dealing with. lt is used during your that ensures that the Druzhina will suffer loads of
Orders phase, and only if you have not used an Orders ability punishment for ther Warlord, you should be reody
previously. When used, you must immediately discard all Saga
to fight a long struggle against them. As d Rus, you
Dice from your Battleboard, which is a high price to pay. But
should ensure that your opponent pays the high price
during the forthcoming Activation Phase, all your Rus units
ill get any number of activations for free (but won't be for any melee he engages. lJsing the aforementoned
able to Rest however) and generate two extra Attack Dice abilities should ensure that he wll suffer the attrition
,in Melee. At the end of the turn, each of your units receives much more than you do. Then, when weakened it will
ne FATCUE that comes in addition to the FATTGUES gained betimeto letThe LongDarkfolland delver the kllng
during the turn. blow. At least, that is the plan. And Rus have plenty
tricks n their pockets to ensure that everything will
work accordngto the plan.
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The Byzantine Empire came nto beng when the Roman Empire infantry formations. They were more often than not irregulars,
was split nto two parts by Diocletan n 285. Followng ths gredt subjects of the Byzantines. These are the Levies of your warband.
leaders like Constantine and Justnian enabled the Empire to grow
IFA\Clf It (ON lRl.iUt lL lE ss
and become powerful. However, lke all Empres it also went through
many upheavals and reversals of fortune untl eventuolly it fell Many Byzantine units may be fielded mounted. Mounted units
in t453. are subiect to the following special rules:
For over looo years the Byzantines fought off many enemes,
including the Slavs, the Bulgars, the Rus and notably the armies - The Movement of a mounted unit is increased to lL but
of lslam from the Eost. The 4th Crusader army first breached the reduced to S when moving from, through, or into an
Harbour walls in 1204 but t was the Turks who finally tore down uneven ground.
the great walls and invaded the great cty. Mlitarily the Byzantines - Mounted units may never enter a building, but they can
adopted the themdtic system to protect their terrtores, divding engage in melee any units occupying a building in the
the Empire nto fortified provinces, the themes. Each theme was normal manner.
militarily and administratively ndependent and supplemented - The Armour of mounted unit is reduced by one when they
when needed by the central field army, the tagmata, based around are the target of a Shooting attack.
Constantinople, the cultural and economc centre of the Empire.
- Mounted units may never benefit from any kind of cover, in
The commander of a Theme was a Strategos, assisted in his duty melee or shooting.
by various ranks of ofEcers, from the Comites to the Drungarios. lt
is likely that your Warlord is such an officer with a long service in Apart from the restrictions mentioned above, mounted units
the Byzantine army. behave like ordinary units. lf a unit starts the game mounted,
it must remain mounted for the whole game and may never
The cavalry was the most prestigious arm of the Byzantine army. dismount.
Their deployment and tactics were strictly organised and their
equipment provided by the central authority. lt consisted of a Byzantine Warlords and Hearthguards are mounted.
kontarion (a long spear about ro feet long) or a bow, a sword, a Hearthguards may be equipped with bows, but due to their
shield, and a lamellar body protection. These Kavallaroi are the small shields and light body armour, their Armour in melee is
Hearthguards of your warband. reduced to 4.
The bulk of the Byzantine army was made of professional soldiers, Byzantine Warriors may have bows or spears. Given their lack
fully equipped and well trained. They fought on foot, either with of protection, bow-armed Warriors have an Armour value of j.
spears and large shields - Kontaratoi; or as archers - Toxotai. These Spear-armed Warriors are not subject to any special rules.
are the Warriors of your Byzantine force. Byzantine Levies have javelins.
It was a common practice to have some skirmishers ahead of the Byzantine warbands may never recruit Swords for Hire.
*ffi,
lHt lE lRl.tO lE ss O lF lf IHt lE lBl)YZA\N'lt' lt N lE A\G IE the Basileus takes a FATIGUE at the start of that Activation.
A Varangian unit that ends any Movement Activaton more
The Warlord below may lead any Byzantine warband. Unlike than ]V[ away from the Basileus takes a FATIGUE at the end of
the usual Warlord, the Basileus costs 1pt, lke the Heroes of the that Activation.
Vkng Age. If a scenario needs to determine how many victory
ponts the Basleus is worth, t is consdered as a Warlord that is Kataphractoi: Kataphractoi were the heaviest cavalry
worth one extra victory point. employed by the Byzantines and rode armoured horses. Any
number of Hearthguards in a warband led by the Basileus
The Basileus may be upgraded to Kataphractoi. Kataphractoi have an
Armour of 6 (reduced to 5 when shot at as other mounted
The Basileus was the Byzdntine Emperor. Ths name replaced
models). Kataphractoi units take one additional FATIGUE for
the Roman tttle of Augustus n 629, and was used from )ustinian
every movement activation after the first (i.e. they take two
ll onward. The Emperor wears the colour purple that clearly
FATICUES after their second movement and two FATICUES
demonstrates his stdtus as leader of the Eastern Roman Empre,
after their third movement).
and governs one of the most civilsed Empre of his time.
Unlike other Heroes of the Vtkng Age, the Basleus represents Harald Hardrada,
all Byzantne Emperors that ruled the Eastern Empre from the Captain of theVarangian Guard
7th century up to the 11tt' centrJry and is designed to portray all
Harald spent nearly ten years in the service of the Byzantne
Emperors from )ustnian ll up to Basil Bulgaroktonos.
emperors durng which tme his legendary leadershp, loyalty,
Hero of the Byzantine Empire: As the most important character martal prowess and rugged goodlooks ensured he quckly
of the East, the Basileus generates three SAGA dice at the start attaned an envable reputation. He led the Varangans on
of each turn, and not two as other Warlords. campoign throughout the Empre, serving as far afield as
)erusalem and Sicily. He amassed great personal wealth through
The Emperor: The Basileus has an Armour value of 4 and only
battle-plunder and'loyalty bonuses' from successve Emperor*
generates one Attack die in melee. He is also not subject to
Eventually mprsoned by Michael V, who was concerned by
the "Warlord's Pride" special rule. lf the Basileus is removed as
Harald's loyalty tothe prevousEmperor (although other sources,
a casualty, the game ends immediately, and all other friendly
and no doubt Harald himself, would have t that t was because
Byzantine figures on the table are considered as having been
he spurned the advances of powerful Empress Zoe...) Harald
killed. The Basileus is always mounted, as you would expect as
escaped and fled back to Scandnavia where he used hs rches to
the ruler of the East.
lmperial Bodyguard: A warband that is led by the Basileus
Hero of the Viking Age: Unlike other Heroes of the Viking
may only field Hearthguards.
Varangoi: Varangians were Norse or Anglo-Saxon at the start of each of his turn. He may, at the
mercenaries that served in the Emperor's Bodyguard. start of his turn, take one or two FATICUE to
Any number of Hearthguards in a warband led by the generate a number of extra Saga Dice equal to
Basileus may be upgraded to Varangians. Varangian the number of FATIGUES taken this way.
{r.l'' Hearthguards fight on foot and have a base Armour
:'t':r'of 6; they may also be armed with Dane axes (see Pagan: Despite being Captain of the Guard of
Byzantium, Harald was a pagan, and was trained
:r.'ir'r:ulelgk p?ge 4l). A Varangian unit that starts any
in the Old Norse ways. The Saga Dice generated
il:,:,.Uto*.ent'Activtion more than M[ away from
by Harald are Runic Dice (also known as Viking Dice, see Saga STRATEG'KON
page 6) and may be used on the Viking Battleboard. Hence,
Used duringStep j of any Melee
a warband led by Harald will use two Battleboards, one
Byzantine and one Viking. Strdtegkon s an ablty that s really useful, but wll necesstate a
bt of plannng and wll usually be more f requently used when one
Saga Dice generated by Varangians may be either Runic or
of your units are engaged n melee. When the dce are dscarded,
Continental Dice (also known as Norman Dice see Saga page
you must designate a f rendly unt that does not take part in ths
6), as chosen by their controlling player at the start of each melee. The unit thdt uses Strd tegkon gans a number of Attack or
turn. Saga Dice generated by other units in Harald's warband
Defence Dice (or a mix of both) equal to half the number of dice
must be Continental Dice. generated by the models of the desgnated unt that are withn
Varangians: Any Hearthguard unit in Harald's warband must SS of your unit. So, for example, if you have three Hearthguard
fight on foot and may be equipped with Dane-axes (see Saga models within SS of one or mor e of the models of y our unit, you, ll
page 43). Thanks to their shiny equipment paid for with the gain j dce. The best use of ths ability s wth a deployment of
Byzantine gold, these Hearthguards have an Armour of 6, in two units one behnd the other, with the f rontal unt gaining dice
melee and against shooting. The number of Hearthguards for the presence of ther comrades behind.
figures in Harald's warband may not exceed the number of
models of other classes. A warband led by Harald may never
include any mounted model.
SCOUIING
Used during,your Activaton Phase
KONTOS
Used duringyour Actvation Phose
FRIENDTYSHIELDS
lJsed durng step 3 of the Melee.
MUTUAL SUPPORT
Used durngthe enemy's Actvaton Phase
Ragnar speaks...
Ths abilty s used in reacton to an enemy Movement Activation.
The Byzantines love come on the
As soon as an enemy unit isactvated for a movement within lM[
battlefield dressed in proper uniforms,
of one of your bow-armed units, you dscard the relevant de. For
wth each solder aware of hs role and
ths movement, the actvated enemy units may not engage n his task n the organsaton of the force
melee any of your bow-armed unt f he could engage d unt not and ther general shouting orders that
equpped wth bows with ths movement. How does it work? lt s are instantly followed. Quite borng...
qute edsy. Before your opponent moves hs fgures, check f he Well, the Byzantne player could make
would be able to engage a unt that is not equipped with bows d worse use of hs tme than studying
(respectng oll the rules for engaging on enemy and moving). the Strategkon to learn the proper
If ihat is the cose, then any movement that would end wth an employment of hs troops, as the Battleboard
is allabout unit cooperation. A lone Byzantne unt s a helpless
ngagement of any of your bow-ormed units is forbdden for the
(and lost) one. They shine when they support edch other, as
gctvated unit. Note that the restricton also may apply to you
most of ther Saga abilites demonstrdte. Deployment is the
.ai,,the Byzantne player. For exomple, if you have a spear armed key here, and ensuring dt all tmes the battle lne s drawn
--".unt and a bow armed one n the same bulding, and you use this
accordngto the plan s vtal if youwantto be successful. They
abilty you won't be able to desgnate the bow-armed unt as the are quite difficult and trcky to use, but very rewarding f you
:'' tit dsting gs defender as this would make the engagement of lke proper combat manoeuvres, the inter-arm approach and
all these things that I never learnt.
ff,,
t
,,ti'{
tf!'l.,
. .-,-l:
H.
'"-.
i.- 11
":,*,a:
:Lisiern Europe and the endless Steppes of the Central Asia were (reduced to 3 due to being mounted). They are worth % vctory
:\e l:omeland of a large number of Steppe nomads tribes such as point per model, lke Warrtors.
:\e Avdrs, the Magyars or the Pechenegs.
Horsemen: Steppe Nomads are born n their saddles. When they
Cn a regular basis, these tribes would sweep across Europe or move ds pdrt of d movement activaton (and do not engdge
t!.anst the Rus, plundering and p'illaging before retirng safely melee) their movement benefits from a S distance bonus, for a
,:o their homelands. m ov e me nt of )L(or IVt) +sS. Th is bonus is n ev er aff ecte d by ter r a n
-i:e',, were valued as mercenaries, joining Rus and Byzantines as or any FATIGUE spent.
:uxliaries, and were famous for ther accuracy as archers, ther If the Nomads decde during the step z of the melee to reduce
ma ne uv er ablty and th er cr ue lty. their number of Attack Dice to gatn Defence Dice, they must
dscard ALL their Attack Dce to gan one Defence Dte per Attack
Swords for Hire:
The Steppe lVomads may be
De discarded (and not half the number of Attack Dice dscarded
included n any Pagan Rus, Rus Prnces or
as it is usually the case).
Byzantine Warband (that are not led by the
Basleus or Harald Hardrada) for one pont. Short bow: Steppe Nomods are equpped wth deadly short
bows. These sh ort bows count as javelns (see Saga page zj), with
? Nomads: The Steppe Nomads are made
the excepton thot the Shootng may be performed either before
of B mounted models that count as
or after the movement. The Nomads mdy not engage ony enemy f\
Levies. As Leves, they do not generate i) .,
unit if they shot during their Movement activation.
any Saga dice, but may be activated or 4*
Eagle Eye: When shooting, the Steppe Nomads outomatcally '/ai
fK*iwri'#,*:ffi
rF""
*#tr
* #.;
benefit f rom a +t modfier to their Attack Dice rolls.
U.' f
Varjazi& Basileus is a full colourminisupplement
for the SACA 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 Hero Of The Viking Age forthe 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 SACA
Viking Age collection.
E
This full-colour folder can accommodate o
-E
your Battleboard collection, Rulebook and a
supplement.
dE
>
If your uniti Armour is higher
than the Armour value of all
enemy units in this melee,
{E
k
shooling unit lake\ one F{ tl(iUE
tila { rrar discarded. lhe shooling
unit also takes a FATIGUE
gain three Attack Dice (gain
for each 5 rolled).
a+
five Attack Dice instead ifvou
discardeda f). {+
M I LITIA THE GREAT FEAR OF
Activation WINTER
*Y
Activate a unit of Warriors.
n5 Orders
Until the start ofyour next turn,
the movement of all units is
ffi'r
t+ Iimited to SS. Until the start of
f,?
unit. 'Ihis unit takes
.SLAVES ENDLESSWASTES
STANDING LIKE BEARS
Activation
, V ]
i I -:
Activation AE
U
Melee
Eacn n()n- \\t,()ro untt .n lne raDte !t ;
Activate a unit of [.evies. Discrd three Attck Dice to increase -L-
t ? must inrnredialelr kill .rne ,'l ils
ourunit.\nnourraluebyonc. l- models for each I-A I ICUE it has. t
IE
uf stcp 4 1 r rur unit has not sutlered rny hits. Dice during each ofthese Shooting
>
add X extra hits to the number ofhits 1,ou scored, resolutions.
with X being our uniti current Armour
d:.o
Orders/Reaction
:.:'1l:::lilJj:i;,i11'j,t"' d :.o,
O"" ,."-*ra",d
:::::i::J,['f iL]
unit
lT:ij""''o q# -I-
is elimirralcd inrlead
ilt Herthsurrrds nd \\'rlord unit. i.
;.. increased by t\a'o against Shooting. LIF
of disengaging.
,flE
A
,* '&
'' GREY woLvES *
#
CITY MILITIA 6
PARTING BLOW ry'
Activation Melee Activation
Activate a unit of \{hrriors Ifno unit engaged in this n.relee
vourun t Activate one of vour units. It may be
activated filr either a movement in
&
ACTIVATION THE FOWER TT TI.IE LONG DARK
POOL
Orders (-)ii:'t . \r(,,,i,i!, )tt, :,.:: il;,. (),r,. r';;i;.1
Roll two extra SAGA dice. Any eneml,unit that has more Attack Dice
Discard all your Saga Dice. Until the
in its Attack Pool than 1.our unit has must
end ofthe turn, your Rus units may
reduce the number ofdice in its pool to the
be activated any number of time for free,
nunrber your unit has in its on n pool.
, generate trvo exlra Attack Dice in melee
Your unit may not gain any extra Attack Dice
but may not Rest. At the end of the tur.r,
during this melee.
each ofl.our unit takes one FATIGUE.
THE POWER
BoDYGUARD liJ,l
i;:::,,:,::'L3
Shooting/Reaction
OF BLOOD
tuleleeorShootinglReaction
t (} f
fi;T,^ffi'f:oeDefence
Die (gain two dice if the d r.f D5cdrd betheen one and
otlrour Baltlebord.
rir SACA Dice I
For each r':]].:rl:U
During this me)ce <ach time
should be eliminated as part ofthe use ofyour
lrierrdly gle*
-
discrdeddiewasa this designate one Hearthguard figure !\arlord'.s Resilience special rule, roll a D6.
$). rva1,,
If l,ou rolled less than the Armour of the
in your unit. The designated Heathguards
are not eligible to be taken olTas crsualties elin.rinated figure, it is not eliminated and
during this shooting or melee resolution, the hit on lour Warlord is cancelled.
and cannot be killed.
,l
!
.
KAVALLAROI .5) MASSED ARCHERY WITH DRAVT/AL
Activation
Acti\-ate a unit ils
.:
Actiyation
Designate up to two of your units
l)
il$
ilIelee
De\ignate,,nr'rlt )('ur mouuletl fl
*
A
li
*z
of Hearthguards or a !\'arkrrd 5hootg.
+
.urd rlirirtc therrr lor
^A lil;Jl"J";,:. ll:,:::';:,,,,,,,,
For these shootings, the activated
Ef
of sight.
ti i The niovement ofthis disengagement
is incresed to lL.
FRIET.IDLY SHIELDS
KGNTA RATO I
5L
THATEG!KON.{ -t)
v
TCIXOTA I
Activation
Activate a unit
of arriors.
ils Melee
Designate one ti'iendl,v unit not
engaged in this melee. Gain
number of dice eqlral to half
#
+
Melee
During step 6 of the melee
you may cancel each cirsualty
suflred b1, your unit b1'
,A
f,n
ke,"
\
KONTOS . A HASII.Ei.'5 t)
COMEAT POOL Activation il'
rv
Melee, Shooting or
ShootinglReaction
Gain one Attack or one Defbnce
Die (two dice if the discarded
Acti\Jtc one ot vour nl()unied non.boh
armed Herrthgualds unils hrr .\4uvernenl. I
ll lhi\ mu\en)ent end, in mclee,
A#f-