Saga Ohio, Episode 27

Host Mike Demana welcomes back the conquering heroes, Bob Boggs and Jim Randall, from Adepticon 2023. Bob and Jim report on the Saga tournaments they entered. Bob and Jim talk about how they chose the armies they played, and what their preparation looked like. The duo give a game-by-game rundown on their games in the doubles tournament. Bob and Jim are probably the most experienced Saga Ohio players, and they impart a lot of good "Saga wisdom" in this fun conversation. --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/sagaohio/message

Host Mike Demana welcomes Rusty Parker, a Saga player from northern Ohio, to talk about his experiences at Adepticon with his Greek Cities: Athenian army. Known as the Jarl on Discord, Rusty is a long-time Saga player who has also helped create a group in northern Ohio called Firelands Games Group. They have a group page on both Facebook and Discord, and will be hosting a Saga tournament in September, 2023. Rusty and Mike talk about how he chose to play the Athenians, his practice sessions, and his games in the Saga Ancients tournament. Rusty talks about the basic and advanced abilities that make the Greeks a surprisingly fast-moving foot army with a punch. --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/sagaohio/message

Host Mike Demana welcomes Joe Dihrkop, winner of the first-ever Ft. Wagne, IN, Saga tournament. Joe talks his decision to field his Mongols and what he did to make them more competitive in three scenario games. Mike, who considered taking the Mongols to the same tourney, discusses the army's strengths and weaknesses in the three scenarios. "Genghis Joe" then recounts how his army performed in each of the three games. Afterwards, the two analyze what makes the Mongols an effective and how they enjoy how the army's battle board allows them to perform as the Mongols did historically. Joe then talks about his upcoming painting projects. --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/sagaohio/message

Host Mike Demana welcomes Saga Ohio aficionado Dan Neal to break down the most recent 2022 FAQ from Studio Tomahawk. Dan and Mike go through each of the changes, giving examples, and breaking down the changes or clarifications. This episode should prove useful to those who either haven't had a chance to analyze the changes themselves, or who need examples and rephrasing into simple English. Dan and Mike are fans of the new changes, but don't back away from pointing out controversy or identifying armies that may be negatively impacted by the rules. They also point out troop types or armies that may get a bump from 2022 Saga FAQ and might warrant a second look for a new warband for players to field. Enjoy! --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/sagaohio/message

Here's the second part of host Mike Demana's chat with Saga Ohio player Dan Neal. In the first half, Dan analyzed his tournament victory at Shore Wars 2022. In this half, he talks to Mike about the Polish list he's been playing for most of the year. Dan goes over the "neither fish nor fowl" composition of the Poles, and talk about how to effectively use that to your advantage. He also goes over the challenges you will face using one of the least commonly played armies from Age of Crusades. Dan details some of the very unique advanced Saga abilities on the Polish battle board. With this episode, Mike completes his 30th Saga Ohio and enters his fourth year of the podcast. --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/sagaohio/message

Host Mike Demana welcomes Saga Ohio player Dan Neal to talk about his victory in the Shore Wars 2022 Saga Tournament. Dan brought Baltic Crusaders to this 3-round tournament on Dec. 3 in Mentor, OH. He talks about why he passed on playing his usual Polish list and instead went with Baltic Crusaders (and why he feels it is a more competitive list in a tourney). This episode is actually part one of our interview -- the second half (#30) will feature Dan talking about his experiences over the last year of Saga playing the Polish army.  --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/sagaohio/message

Host Mike Demana welcomes Advance the Colors 2022 Tournament co-champion Daniel Broaddus. Brodi talks about his victory with his Vandal faction from the Old Friends, New Enemies section of the Age of Invasions book. He goes over why he chose this variant of the Carolingian battle board, and how he sets up his army. Mike and Brodi talk about the key differences between the Carolingians and Vandals. Brodi goes on to recount his three victories in detail, explaining his tactics and the keys to his success in each game. The two then analyze the abilities on the battle board, pointing out how they work for the Vandals and Carolingians. --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/sagaohio/message

After a 2-month layoff, host Mike Demana welcomes D.J. Andrews, a Saga player from Indianapolis, IN. D.J. was one of the co-champions of the Advance the Colors Saga Ohio Tournament. He breaks down each of his three victories in the tournament, describing his battle plan and how the game progressed. D.J. also talks about his Anglo-Dane army, his troop list, deployment, and what tactics he uses for them. Mike prompts him to describe how he uses Noble Lineage advanced Saga ability and Activation Pool to, as he calls it, extend his Saga dice. The two also talk about what other games D.J. plays, as well as his communitiy in Indianapolis. --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/sagaohio/message

Four Saga players gather to discuss the Republican Roman faction and battle board on the latest episode of Saga Ohio. Host Mike Demana gathers a tetrarchy of Roman aficionados in a four-way conversation about this Age of Hannibal faction. Joining Mike are veteran Roman player Bob Boggs, Cincinnati area Saga fan Michael Cooper, and Saga Ohio co-founder Andy Swingle. Each gives input on the way they field the Republican Romans and what their battle plans tend to be. They weigh in on unit sizes, favorite advanced Saga abilities, and more in a slightly longer episode than normal. This was an experiment to see if multiple guests could work in this format and it was a definite success. Check it out and see if you want to play Republican Romans like these players do! --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/sagaohio/message

Saga Ohio is back after a slight layoff. Host Mike Demana takes a break from the detailed analysis of a faction to have a fun chat with James Armstrong, a Saga player from Canberra, Australia. James talks about the Saga scene down in Australia, their regular club meetings, tournaments, and more. James also breaks down his recent entry into an Age of Magic tournament -- his first time playing that Age. He talks about differences between AOM and historical Saga and what he enjoyed about it. Both Mike and James talk about their most recent armies they've built and what's in the near future. Mike gives a rundown on the Saga tournaments he's running this year, and the two compare their experiences playing in tournaments and with people from other clubs. --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/sagaohio/message