Strategikon of Saga: Kansas City podcast of Tactics for Saga, a miniatures game from Studio Tomahawk

The Aggressor is known for being someone who is in your lines before you finish placing your dice. Learning how to be aggressive is not just about sending every unit you have downrange, it is about getting ahead of the opponents decision cycle and leading the tempo of the game. I welcome Charlie from Arkansas onto the podcast. Charlie is known for his aggressive playstyle and yelling Git Sum!

Figuring out how you play and what are your strengths and weaknesses in Saga can be done. Today we are discussing Saga playstyles. I have had some fun and created a short questionnaire around 4 play styles. The 4 playstyles are Aggressor, Controller, Opportunist, and Calculator. I have received a lot of feedback from the community with quiz results and today we are diving feet first into The Controller playstyle. Thank you Luke for starting a lot of this discussion years ago and now talking through your playstyle on todays episode.

Adepticon in the United States has an event unique to miniature wargaming, and it is a Parade of Armies to show off the most unique, best painted displays and armies from the team tournaments. I have brought on the reigning winner from the Parade of Armies, who also builds Saga displays, to share some of his insight into how and why you should build displays. Displays are a way to set the scene and fully finish the story for a warband. Thank you Adam for sharing your thoughts and time!

Here in the Midwest of the United States we have a unique tournament that has now been around for years. It is called doubles where each team has two teammates playing at the same time against another team. Each player has 4 point warbands making a total of 16 points and 4 warlords on one table competing for the top spot. I have invited my doubles partner on to talk through how we decide and conceptualize this unique format. Give it a try if you are not from the Midwest as it can be a fun night of Sage for you and 3 other friends.

Adepticon 2026 was a blast from start to finish and a new TO entered into to fill some big shoes. I welcome on DJ to describe his goals, planning, and outcome of the one of the biggest miniature conventions in the United States. Thank you DJ for sharing the process and in and outs of running 4 days of Saga tournaments, learn to plays, and hopes for the next year as Adepticon has already announced its dates of April 7-11th 2027.

In today's episode we spend time talking about the mighty fyrd and how to really lean into this unit. Levy can be a tough unit to learn to incorporate well into your line up. We take some time to go through helpful tips on activating levy, use them offensively, and explore some of our favorite levy units in the game.

Welcome to a new series focused on exploring recent tournament data to see if themes and patterns emerge in the world of competitive Saga. This is an idea that was suggested years ago and finally has made its way to the podcast. We have some strong opinions so this is a disclaimer it is fully our view of these results. I want to thank Dan for coming on and sharing his thoughts with us about the current meta in Saga and after looking at 6 months of results a few themes do show up.

Warriors often are the work horse, meat, or the broccoli patty that hold a warband together. After a few months of lining up schedules I get to welcome Tim from Activation Phase and Rodge from Saga Thorsday onto the podcast. We spend time discussing our thoughts on warriors and ways to explore their use.

This is a recent review of my experience at winning the Grognard trophy at our recent Saga North American Grand Championship tournament. I took best overall with with my massive display and solid gameplay with French. I took 5 points of hearth guard and 1 point of levy crossbow to face off against solid opponents throughout all 5 games. Thank you to all the people who voted for my display and army and opponents for making a memorable experience!

Historically the Swiss were a fearsome bunch of men on a battlefield. In Saga's Age of Chivalry supplement they have slowly proven they are a tough warband to go into battle with. On todays episode we welcome back on Kyle and his knowledge on ways he has found to run them. Thank you Kyle for coming on to the podcast.

Facing a common foe on the battlefield can lead to you knowing their typical playstyle. When meeting a newer warlord on the battlefield it can be difficult to understand what they are trying to do. Today we step outside of Kansas City and bring on Adam and Dan. Them are here to help share key insights into how you can get a sense what your opponent may be trying to do on the battlefield. Again a huge thank you to Adam and Dan.

Every age that dreams of writing Sagas has to have a villain. The Free Companies tend to hold on to that spot and are a blast to play in Saga. Join us are we are fully ramping up for the upcoming North American Grand Championship in November in Kansas City. A big thank you to our local Black Prince Charles for coming on and discussing his villainous ways to lead into Age of Chivalry.

We are starting to get serious in preparation for TaKtiCon 2025 in November this year. We take time to discuss the convention and then do a packet review. We cant wait to see you guys on November 7th 8th and 9th. Thanks you Steven for coming on to walk through the packet and the convention.

Continuing our discussion on units we move to one of the toughest to use in all of Saga. Composite bows were a way of life for the people of the Steppe and dominated much of the world they touched. In Saga they can do the same but often new players struggle on making this unit equal the same prowess history has written about it. Thank you Stephen and Luke for coming on and giving us your 10+ years of experience running comp bows!

Trying something a little different this year. Trying to slowly bring on a single player to review their time at Adepticon this year, 2025. Thank you Charles for coming on and sharing your experience with me.

Hearthguard are the toughest fighting men, and women, in the world of Saga. Learning to pilot Hearthguard is a tough skill to master. We discuss the many reasons to take Hearthguard and challenge you to toughen up and use the toughest men the Sagas often were written for! Thank you to Kyle, Luke and Stephen for coming on to Show Some Strength and encourage you to gain entry into the hall of Hearthguard.

Over this past year a series of articles from Goonhammer have been geared at our amazing game of Saga. I was lucky enough to run into Mike on the final day of Adepticon. As we got to talking I found out Mike was from Goonhammer. Join us as we spend time talking about what Goonhammer is, their Summer of Saga series, and how you can even become a contributor to the amazing work happening at Goonhammer. Thank you Mike for coming on and sharing your work and experience with us!

I have been a little absent on the podcast recently so wanted to jump back in full force. I give a brief update on where the podcast is and some hope to add new styles of content. I decide to fly solo today and review a recent tournament I took the Macedonians to and discuss a new-to-me build using a ton of Hearthguard/Companions for Alexander. As always thank you for listening!

Harness in for today's episode as we take 2 hours to explore the meta and the initial impressions for Studio Tomahawks newest supplement. In KC fashion we try to explore the meta underneath Chivalry. A major thank you to our newest player Kyle and our grizzled veteran Stephen for coming on today to share your thoughts.

Known often by his Discord handle of Shipwreck. We get to pull the curtain back and meet the man who has been running the last few online leagues via the Saga Thorsday Discord. Anthony takes time to share his hobby love of painting and mix of history to generate stories on the tabletop. Thank you Shipwreck/Anthony for talking Saga with me!

The Goths are a warband that can be difficult to understand when you first start playing them. Mastering fatigue and when to take on more is a fine balance that often leaves many new Goth players struggling. We discuss the board and tactics on how to find a rhythm to this warband. Thank you Steven for taking the time to share your favorite and most commanded warband!

For our second player spotlight I get caught up with Adam. We explore what it is about Saga that he enjoys and his thoughts on his experience in Saga. Adam is held in high regard here in Kansas City for his tactical ability. Thank you Adam for taking some time out to share your thoughts on Saga!

"Without supply the troops die!" was a motto many of the men and women in supply used to live by. In Saga our supplies are generated by the orders dice. To find a balance for your warband and own preference in the universe of Saga will either lead to victory or certain defeat. Thank you to Charles, Luke, and Josh for coming on and discussing your thoughts.

Expanding the community spotlight to also include player spotlights gets at what I enjoy about Saga. Talking to people about what they love about our great game of Saga. A big thank you to Terry for being the first person to come on and discuss his experience with Saga. Also a major thank you to Luke for creating new music for each series we run here on Strategikon of Saga!

The North American Saga Grand Championship is happening November 9th and 10th here in Kansas City, Missouri. Our local player Steven Hollowell is the leading Tournament Organizer for Saga and he walks us through the recently released packet. The event this will be at is TaKtiCon and it is a 5 round two day tournament. We cant wait to see who will take home the crown of the North American Grand Champion!

Raising the Fyrd means you better be ready to paint a lot of models. The Anglo Saxons are a powerful group of men raised from the farms and ready to defend all invaders. On this episode myself and another local player have a lot of experience running this warband and share our thoughts on helpful tips and tricks to run the Fyrd! Thank you Charles for coming on and congratulations on winning a tournament with them.

Being able to push your agenda during battle and forcing your opponent to react to you is a major strategic advantage. Often the feeling of pressure or being behind can cause errors or require you to make bold moves to gain back the tactical advantage. In this episode we explore the concept of tempo in Saga and how to gain it, steal it back, and other nuances of tempo. Thank you to Stephen and Luke for sharing their advice on how they conceptualize tempo.

Scott and the boys are a tough bunch of guys out of the Highlands. I get to spend time talking through the board and tactics with Luke. Luke has run this faction from Version One Sage until now and they are always a threat. Thank you Luke for your insight into this warband.

An exhausted unit is a dead unit in Saga. Fatigue is arguably the most important thing to understand in Saga. Learning how and when to use fatigue is an exercise in both art and science. We take a different style of discussion with minimal direction to allow us to just talk about this deep topic. I am thankful to bring Luke and Stephen back on to talk about some of the ways they think about and use fatigue.

Saga has engaged an international community for a long time now. It can be easy to have groups create a local meta and adapt rules to better adjust to their playstyle. As we talk with Jan and Jakub they talk about the local meta in their areas of Poland and their thoughts on how Saga can benefit from community input and still be true to the game. A big thank you to Jan and Jakub for for coming on and talking about their Saga experience!

There are a lot of things I enjoy about Saga but none more than the people I have met along the way. This new series is about talking with other groups or players around the Saga Universe and exploring why they got into Saga, how their local group plays, and advice for the Saga World. A huge thank you goes out to Saga Ohio for being the first to jump into this series. Thank you to Joe, Bob, Jim, Mike, Dan, and Lee!

As we close out our discussion on Adepticon 2024 Age of Invasion and Age of Viking was the final day. We discuss our warbands and some of our experience around the trip. Thank you for sticking with us and we cant wait to get back to sharing our experience with Saga and tactics used. Thank you again to Steven H., Stephen H., and Charles!

As we continue the discussion for Kansas Cities experience at Adepticon we move into discussions for day 2 & 3. Day 2 covered Age of Alexander and Hannibal together. Day 3 was Doubles and used Age of Melee with teams fielding 2 separate 4 point warbands.

5 of the Kansas City Warlords made the trip to Chicago for Adepticon 2024. Adepticon hosts the Saga America Grand Melee that is 4 single day 3 round tournaments. I am joined by 4 of the local warlords to discuss tactics and our experience in going to the 4 day tournament. This is part one and a big thank you to Steven, Stephen, Charles!

The Romans from the Age of Invasion supplement are a powerful force. A new series here on the Strategikon Podcast is going to focus on how to use warbands and do a breakdown from our local players. The name sake of the the podcast is a symbolic way for us to start. A big thank you to Charles for coming on and discussing a warband he has become quite lethal with!

Many brave souls have been lost trying to cover open ground to engage the dreaded bowman. The infamous L barrier is a long distance to cover while under fire in Saga. In this episode we discuss the different strategies and helpful tips on how to force the march across no man's land and catch up with the shooting armies in our Saga universe. Thank you to Charles and Steven for sharing your helpful command strategies!

Calling up the proper Fyrd for the battle in front of you can be a tough and sometimes daunting task. During this episode we talk through and explore a few key aspects for building a new warband. We share ideas on ways to synergize the board and get the work done that the board wants done. We also discuss what mercenaries can add to your warband. A huge thank you to Charles, Luke, and Stephen for sharing their vast experience of being veteran and grizzled warlords with the younger warlords looking to strike out with their own fyrd!

Competing in tournaments can involve a lot of planning. During an Iron Man tournament the format now favors the warlords raw ability and not just the list they command. We recently completed our annual Iron Man Tournament here in Kansas City on November 4th. I spend time talking with the winner and his tactics during the Iron Man tournament, Joe Rogers from Saga Thorsday.

When starting with a new warband what can history teach us? On this episode of the Strategikon of Saga Podcast I ask our Kansas City Saga players if history can be a lens we use to gain insight into a warband. We also explore the other aspects of how our love of history can inspire our gameplay, and then aid us in ways not not direct to the tactical battlefield. Thank you to Jay Urlaub, Luke Starnes, and Stephen Holdeman III for sharing your insight and knowledge to this topic.

Being prepared for battle is a long road of planning, assembling your troops, and drilling in the field. Warlords often fail due to limited preparation and limited tactical knowledge to pull from when under fire. On todays Episode we catch up with two local players in Kansas City as they return from battle in the North. Charles Yaw and Steven Hollowell provide their insight into their preparation and ways to use and "After Action Report" to win while out on campaign.

Warlords often have to take command of men who are new to them. We will discuss thoughts and ideas on how to battle harden your new army. The best warlords are not made from luck but from the drilling and practice they put themselves and their men through. Formations, scouting the enemy, learning the lay of the land, and leaning on your skill sets are all important parts of our advice to fellow warlords. Thank you to Sean, Luke, and Stephen for sharing your knowledge!

In just a few short months an Iron Man Tournament will take place here in Kansas City. We talk with Charles and Stephen about this upcoming Iron man tournament. They guide us through the history of Iron Man in the Saga universe and what to expect for people coming to this event. For those of you interested the tournament will take place on November 4th, 2023 here in Kansas City at TableTop Games and Hobbies at 10am.

In Kansas City we ran a 7-round season over this past Summer. We chose warbands from Age of Invasion, Age of Vikings, or Age of Crusades. The lists for players were not set throughout the entire season, as way for us to explore and play around with different lists. Lists were 6 points, and one mercenary unit was allowed to replace a single point. The season was a 7 round "Round Robin" tournament. I interview our overall winner, Charles Yaw who earned the title Monarch of MOKAN, to discuss his thoughts and strategies on winning a season.

The battlefield can either aid you in becoming the hero or someone else's drinking cup. For our first episode on the Strategikon of Saga Podcast, we discuss ideas about terrain placement. We are joined by Stephen Holdeman III, and Joshua Urlaub, both tournament champions and accomplished players, here in Kansas City. We had a few struggles with Discord audio at times and had to rerecord one section. Intro and outro music was created by Luke Starnes here in Kansas City. Welcome to the Kansas City War Room!

Welcome to Strategikon of Saga podcast! Maurice was a leader of the Eastern Roman Empire and wrote out a well-regarded manual for war. The Straegikon was a guide for his men and the Strategos' for centuries to come. In this podcast the players here in Kansas City will sit around and casually discuss the nuance of topics from the skirmish miniatures game Saga, from Studio Tomahawk. Join me and my fellow warlords as we discuss the tactics we use to better our command of men on the field.