I love these faction reviews. Great job. As to Squires, it says right on page 43 that you can “not” exceed the original number of figures. As a PS, you are correct about Shieldbearers and units closing ranks, they do benefit. Also on page 43
The Poles - my favorites! An overall weak board due to not enough dice generation, too many things at once, weird army options that penalize you by locking out abilities vs. other boards that synergize, punishing reliance on specific dice results to work at all, and some just super situational abilities. Still love it as my first war band. Its number one strength is that no one plays it, so your opponent often has no idea what to expect. Terror of the East and the Clash can absolutely win you a game against certain factions if they aren't careful - particularly those that want to run out with mounted HG and shoot you with javelins then retreat. Not today friend! My take on the abilities: 1. The Clash pairs VERY well with Terror of the East. In fact, I generally won't queue ToE without it. Since you are the attacker, Clash shuts down their abilities in their turn. This is used every or nearly every turn. 2. Besides the obvious use of charging armor 3 dudes and splashing armor 5 dudes, Linebreaker is also useful when you need to attack one of those little beaten down units with a healthy unit. Now at least two casualties aren't wasted. I've done this once and killed two weak units with a single attack, splashing fatigue to the remaining units. That said, I almost never use because the Rare must go to Voivode first, then probably Combat Bonus. 3. Hold The Line can catch up opponents who rely on a single mounted hammer unit to score early kills. Like Austin says, though, once an opponent understands how it works, kind of a bummer. I've thought about using this with Tribal Hunters since they could still do their shooting against charge due to bonus dice (I think...). Also an odd note - Galon says you can still gain dice with this active, but of course that runs counter to basic Saga rules. 4. Squires is very situational and mostly a poor idea. That said, if you have a beaten down exhausted unit of Warriors and a unit of HG that maybe took some losses during a ToE charge. It can also be used in edge cases to put your HG in range for a charge - since you choose to a degree where the HG figures end up, they could end up just close enough to set up a NQ charge. 5. No Quarter can be used with Specialists as part of a fun ambush: use it to activate your battered and doomed bow Levy to charge a nearby HG unit (even better if bow levy have suffered say seven casualties and lost their Saga dice first). Now, 5 bow levy generate 2 combat dice in melee. No Quarter adds 2 bonus dice - total is now four dice. Then drop Specialists - 4 dice gained. 5 bow levy throwing 8 dice in melee against a HG unit is not going to be a good trade for the HG! No Quarter is an essential ability though overall - running 6 pack HG creates optimal benefit with 16 dice from 6 figures. I use it NQ frequently, but that's because I take a fair number of horses. 6. Szlachta - comes from Polish word for the nobility class late Dark Ages into early Middle Ages. Trash ability most of the time - unbelievably pricey for what it does, outside some edge cases. 7. Shieldbearers only usable with basic Levy and other foot when in solid cover being charged. A reason to take basic Levy. Can be used though to deter enemy foot from charging your bow levy while in ruins/rocky ground. If you have the basic Levy against a force that wants to melee, probably taking this nearly every turn. Against Mongols, etc., not so much. 8. Specialists is IMO the best on the board. Remember - it can be used by bow levy in melee! Obvious to use it on your turn, but it can also be paired with TotE to add 2 dice on opponent's turn or just to deter charges. 9. Terror of the East is super fun but hard to use well. A strong ability if you go first and roll two commons and a common or uncommon for The Clash. Many clever options to disrupt opponents. Remember you don't have to charge the unit that's been activated. Can use this to crush vulnerable units or even escape a charge! Easy for clever opponents to shut down - for example a well placed War Wagon pretty much ruins this one. 10. Voivode is what makes this faction playable at all. A decent counter to mass fatigue armies, but remember only helps foot units. Bad news when you don't get a rare for first few turns. Very bad news when opponent like Joms has abilities that can cancel your Activation abilities!
One last thought - the board has no defense against shooting as noted in interview, but Terror of the East can function as a defense of sorts. Having it queued and mounted units positioned correctly (not easy) enables you to smash the shooter in melee before they fire, possibly even stopping it altogether if you can position to block LOS to original target. It's nowhere near as good as the Baltic Crusaders for example with the +1 armor and 1 resilience, but it's all you have.
@@RodgeRules Happy to share. Three other oddities with this board: 1. Foot Western Knights can become the most unkillable unit just about anywhere in Saga. They are affected by Hold The Line and can have a fatigue removed by Voivode. If charged and they close ranks with the rare version of HtL active, you have armor 5, saves on 4, reroll of failed saves, resilience three, and the ability to remove two fatigue next turn through a rest and Voivode. You also have armor 6 against shooting and saves on 3. Bonus points if you have one or two combat bonus ready to support them with defense dice. 2. Their first Legendary warlord looks to be trash, and compared to others no doubt he is quite poor. But - being able to take Jav Cav HG with this board is much better than you might think. Basically, you activate to move, run out, do the free shoot (recommend using bow levy with Specialists to clear any shooting defense ability they have ready - most opponents will pop whatever they have when facing 10 shooting dice), then just stay there. Have Terror of the East and The Clash queued. Be positioned correctly to charge whatever unit you'd like. End your turn. If the opponent does any activation at all that could threaten the HG or move your preferred target, you immediately trigger ToE and charge the desired unit before anything happens with +1 to hit from the HG. Trigger The Clash. No Saga abilities, and now you are hitting them with +1 and an extra attack and defense die. Very strong if they have something like a big xbow unit sitting in the open because they thought you wouldn't risk a double activation and coming in with a fatigue on your own turn. Consider taking Scouts with this warlord - moving through terrain much better if you have shooty HG. 3. If you take Lifeguard, then per the FAQ your Warlord becomes a HG unit for purposes of advanced Saga abilities on the board. This means a lost Lifeguard figure can be replaced with Squires, which specifically references HG units for replacement. As far as I know, this is the only faction that can replace a lost lifeguard/companion figure. I believe the downside is that you would not be able to use Voivode though, since it references the Warlord. Fun to try perhaps if you want to go with a cav-heavy list.
in word "szlachta" there is no 'k' sound shlahta in english basically and what you thought I believe is Striga (Strzyga), vampire-ish creature from Slavic folklore Szlachta (Shlahta) is just polish for 'nobles' or 'nobility'
Thanks for the info! My guess came from the Vampire: Masquerade pc game of the early 2000s where these little ghoul guys you beat up were called szlachta, hehe!
Also for the hold the line ability and being puches of objectives, if you close ranks and after combat you have more models left then the attack they move back, not you. so that works very well with levy blocks
The Byzantines would not enjoy this match up. Their synergy comes from having units within S of each other. That would make them more vulnerable to Squires. The knock-on effect would be that all units within S of an eliminated unit take a Fatigue. Byzantines have a lot of interesting abilities but The Clash would negate them. Obviously a niche match up but I find when playing the Scots I am building up activations with the intention of triggering them on one unit. Poles activate The Clash, and those dice are stranded on the Scots board. You went from the options to the battleboard. I was looking at the unit roster and it appears to be laid out wrong. Warriors on foot are 4(3)? And credited with Mount:horse. The mounted Warriors are 3(4) Is that the wrong way round? HeAvyWeapon Levy are 3(3). Bow Levy are 4/4. Again, wrong way round?
I love these faction reviews. Great job.
As to Squires, it says right on page 43 that you can “not” exceed the original number of figures.
As a PS, you are correct about Shieldbearers and units closing ranks, they do benefit. Also on page 43
Thanks for chiming in!!
The Poles - my favorites! An overall weak board due to not enough dice generation, too many things at once, weird army options that penalize you by locking out abilities vs. other boards that synergize, punishing reliance on specific dice results to work at all, and some just super situational abilities. Still love it as my first war band. Its number one strength is that no one plays it, so your opponent often has no idea what to expect. Terror of the East and the Clash can absolutely win you a game against certain factions if they aren't careful - particularly those that want to run out with mounted HG and shoot you with javelins then retreat. Not today friend!
My take on the abilities:
1. The Clash pairs VERY well with Terror of the East. In fact, I generally won't queue ToE without it. Since you are the attacker, Clash shuts down their abilities in their turn. This is used every or nearly every turn.
2. Besides the obvious use of charging armor 3 dudes and splashing armor 5 dudes, Linebreaker is also useful when you need to attack one of those little beaten down units with a healthy unit. Now at least two casualties aren't wasted. I've done this once and killed two weak units with a single attack, splashing fatigue to the remaining units. That said, I almost never use because the Rare must go to Voivode first, then probably Combat Bonus.
3. Hold The Line can catch up opponents who rely on a single mounted hammer unit to score early kills. Like Austin says, though, once an opponent understands how it works, kind of a bummer. I've thought about using this with Tribal Hunters since they could still do their shooting against charge due to bonus dice (I think...). Also an odd note - Galon says you can still gain dice with this active, but of course that runs counter to basic Saga rules.
4. Squires is very situational and mostly a poor idea. That said, if you have a beaten down exhausted unit of Warriors and a unit of HG that maybe took some losses during a ToE charge. It can also be used in edge cases to put your HG in range for a charge - since you choose to a degree where the HG figures end up, they could end up just close enough to set up a NQ charge.
5. No Quarter can be used with Specialists as part of a fun ambush: use it to activate your battered and doomed bow Levy to charge a nearby HG unit (even better if bow levy have suffered say seven casualties and lost their Saga dice first). Now, 5 bow levy generate 2 combat dice in melee. No Quarter adds 2 bonus dice - total is now four dice. Then drop Specialists - 4 dice gained. 5 bow levy throwing 8 dice in melee against a HG unit is not going to be a good trade for the HG! No Quarter is an essential ability though overall - running 6 pack HG creates optimal benefit with 16 dice from 6 figures. I use it NQ frequently, but that's because I take a fair number of horses.
6. Szlachta - comes from Polish word for the nobility class late Dark Ages into early Middle Ages. Trash ability most of the time - unbelievably pricey for what it does, outside some edge cases.
7. Shieldbearers only usable with basic Levy and other foot when in solid cover being charged. A reason to take basic Levy. Can be used though to deter enemy foot from charging your bow levy while in ruins/rocky ground. If you have the basic Levy against a force that wants to melee, probably taking this nearly every turn. Against Mongols, etc., not so much.
8. Specialists is IMO the best on the board. Remember - it can be used by bow levy in melee! Obvious to use it on your turn, but it can also be paired with TotE to add 2 dice on opponent's turn or just to deter charges.
9. Terror of the East is super fun but hard to use well. A strong ability if you go first and roll two commons and a common or uncommon for The Clash. Many clever options to disrupt opponents. Remember you don't have to charge the unit that's been activated. Can use this to crush vulnerable units or even escape a charge! Easy for clever opponents to shut down - for example a well placed War Wagon pretty much ruins this one.
10. Voivode is what makes this faction playable at all. A decent counter to mass fatigue armies, but remember only helps foot units. Bad news when you don't get a rare for first few turns. Very bad news when opponent like Joms has abilities that can cancel your Activation abilities!
One last thought - the board has no defense against shooting as noted in interview, but Terror of the East can function as a defense of sorts. Having it queued and mounted units positioned correctly (not easy) enables you to smash the shooter in melee before they fire, possibly even stopping it altogether if you can position to block LOS to original target. It's nowhere near as good as the Baltic Crusaders for example with the +1 armor and 1 resilience, but it's all you have.
Oh man, this is great stuff! Thank you for chiming in with all this! Great to hear another perspective!!
@@RodgeRules Happy to share. Three other oddities with this board:
1. Foot Western Knights can become the most unkillable unit just about anywhere in Saga. They are affected by Hold The Line and can have a fatigue removed by Voivode. If charged and they close ranks with the rare version of HtL active, you have armor 5, saves on 4, reroll of failed saves, resilience three, and the ability to remove two fatigue next turn through a rest and Voivode. You also have armor 6 against shooting and saves on 3. Bonus points if you have one or two combat bonus ready to support them with defense dice.
2. Their first Legendary warlord looks to be trash, and compared to others no doubt he is quite poor. But - being able to take Jav Cav HG with this board is much better than you might think. Basically, you activate to move, run out, do the free shoot (recommend using bow levy with Specialists to clear any shooting defense ability they have ready - most opponents will pop whatever they have when facing 10 shooting dice), then just stay there. Have Terror of the East and The Clash queued. Be positioned correctly to charge whatever unit you'd like. End your turn. If the opponent does any activation at all that could threaten the HG or move your preferred target, you immediately trigger ToE and charge the desired unit before anything happens with +1 to hit from the HG. Trigger The Clash. No Saga abilities, and now you are hitting them with +1 and an extra attack and defense die. Very strong if they have something like a big xbow unit sitting in the open because they thought you wouldn't risk a double activation and coming in with a fatigue on your own turn. Consider taking Scouts with this warlord - moving through terrain much better if you have shooty HG.
3. If you take Lifeguard, then per the FAQ your Warlord becomes a HG unit for purposes of advanced Saga abilities on the board. This means a lost Lifeguard figure can be replaced with Squires, which specifically references HG units for replacement. As far as I know, this is the only faction that can replace a lost lifeguard/companion figure. I believe the downside is that you would not be able to use Voivode though, since it references the Warlord. Fun to try perhaps if you want to go with a cav-heavy list.
in word "szlachta" there is no 'k' sound
shlahta in english basically
and what you thought I believe is Striga (Strzyga), vampire-ish creature from Slavic folklore
Szlachta (Shlahta) is just polish for 'nobles' or 'nobility'
Thanks for the info! My guess came from the Vampire: Masquerade pc game of the early 2000s where these little ghoul guys you beat up were called szlachta, hehe!
Also for the hold the line ability and being puches of objectives, if you close ranks and after combat you have more models left then the attack they move back, not you. so that works very well with levy blocks
Good call! As long as they can get a follow-up charge in, you're golden!
He estado probando los polacos.
Warlord
4HQ
4HQ
8 W armas pesadas
9 levas arco
8 levas arco
7 levas arco
1 sacerdote
Lista con combos brutales!!!
Interesting, thanks for sharing! I would like to give 'em a try someday!
Byzantines have melee levy
They sure do!
The Byzantines would not enjoy this match up. Their synergy comes from having units within S of each other. That would make them more vulnerable to Squires. The knock-on effect would be that all units within S of an eliminated unit take a Fatigue.
Byzantines have a lot of interesting abilities but The Clash would negate them.
Obviously a niche match up but I find when playing the Scots I am building up activations with the intention of triggering them on one unit. Poles activate The Clash, and those dice are stranded on the Scots board.
You went from the options to the battleboard. I was looking at the unit roster and it appears to be laid out wrong.
Warriors on foot are 4(3)? And credited with Mount:horse.
The mounted Warriors are 3(4)
Is that the wrong way round?
HeAvyWeapon Levy are 3(3).
Bow Levy are 4/4. Again, wrong way round?