Walking Dread: a review of the SAGA Revenants faction

The Revenants are a new faction for SAGA historical gaming. In this case the historical side is drawn from myths prevalent in Europe from 800-1000. This is an army of the walking dead, commanded by a Necromancer.

The only way to buy the Revenants is in the limited edition box. This gives you a six-point army, along with battle board, rules and SAGA dice unique to the Revenant faction.

The rules

The Revenants work unlike any other faction in SAGA. Their necromancer fights worse but shoots better than other warlords. The undead count as levy, though they fight a little better. The army has no access to warriors or hearthguard. Undead units generate no SAGA dice, but they generate dread tokens. These tokens have several uses, one being they can be exchanged for SAGA dice. So you’ll still have plenty of dice to roll.

Undead units always move, even if you don’t activate them, they will move at the end of your turn. This preserves the implacable advance of the undead, and your opponent knows these enemies will simply keep on coming.

The models

The models in this army are all one-part metal miniatures, with the exception of the necromancer, who comes in three pieces, with his staff and scenic base needing to be attached. Assembly is uncomplicated, with only one model needing gluing, and enough bases to fit all 49 figures on.

The undead models themselves look great and with 24 versions there is plenty of variety to your horde.

The box also comes with two grave markers, which themselves play an interesting role on the battlefield. There are also some spare loose bases, which I assume are there to be painted up a dread tokens. At least, that is what I plan to do.

Advance, my shambling horde!

The Revenants faction adds an interesting new dimension to SAGA. The faction plays differently to any other, but is still recognisably part of the game. The rule sheet states that this army is not intended for tournament play, which I assume means it wasn’t playtested to the same extent as other SAGA factions have been.

In spite of this the faction will make a great addition to anyone’s SAGA collection.