Reply To: Saga… why?

[dugthefug1644 30188xp 0]

Is Saga a historical game?

I am in two minds. When picking a forum to work under I did choose Historical which says something I guess. As said in earlier comments the Saga gameplay does lean on a more fantastical look to the battleboards, where pagan gods inspire your Vikings to superhuman marshall feats. The army building points mechanic is very simplistic and the uniform unit sizes across all the factions is based on balance not historical accuracy.

The accuracy and impact of history on your games of Saga does depend on individuals playing the game but there are a few areas where this is baked into the rules. The game does mention real life historical characters and tries to give them special rules that reflect their actions in life to a degree. The game has levy, warriors and Hearthguard, but tries to give you specific names from the age and faction to help improve the emersion. (Bondi, fyrd, Fianna etc.) The game tries to limit weapons like crossbows and war dogs to the nations that were known to use them rather than everyone.

When it comes to painting armies of the Dark Age, it is pretty wide open for interpretation because there is so little surviving from that era as proof either way. For my own armies I Google researched as best I could for shield design inspiration. I bothered to check what clothes dyes were available and what colours were strictly saved for the elite in society only. I checked for the consensus on what weapons were used the most by which factions.

I think there is an expectation that you field armies reflecting your faction as best you can. I think most people would categorise Saga as a historical game, but is Historical-lite as far as I would say. You don’t need to have read up on Dark Age history to enjoy or understand the game. The game is not trying to be a Dark Age battle simulator, rather giving you an opportunity to play a skirmish game with a Dark Age flavour.