Editing Saga (section)

==Factions==
There are four playable factions in the rulebook; Vikings, Anglo-Danish, Welsh and Normans (anyone clued up on their history will note that 3 out of these 4 are essentially just different types of Viking). Each faction also includes a couple of named characters, such as William, Duke of Normandy and Harald Hadradda. Four more factions have been released with the Northern Fury expansion, namely Scots, Jomsvikings (yes, they all are quite keen on Vikings in this game!) Saxons and Bretons. At [[Salute]] 2012 Gripping Beast released a new faction called the Skraelings, which represent the Native Americans encountered by Leif Eriksson in Vinland.

The Raven's Shadow added four new factions: the Irish, Norse-Gaels, Strathclyde Welsh and Franks. Varjazi & Basileus added Pagan Rus, Rus Princes and Byzantines. Crescent and Cross introduced 6 factions: Crusaders (standard crusading armies), Milites Christi (orders like the Knights Hospitaller and Knights Templar), Spanish (El Cid and the reconquista), Moors (North African/Iberian muslim forces), Saraceens (Levant muslim forces) and Mutataw’wia (religious fanatics). Steppe Nomad rules were also released on Studio Tomahawk's website. 

Age of Magic has no set factions, but does have 6 general “Archetypes” which you could fit really any medieval/fantasy army into. The Great Kingdoms are your typical Factions of Order within fantasy settings, and can be anything from a [[Bretonnia|Kingdom of Noble Knights based on Chivalry, Honor, and exploiting peasants]], to a [[Stormcast Eternals|Brotherhood of Heroes and Warriors who seek out evil and destroy it]], to even your High Elf magic fag stand-ins. The Lords of the Wild are your Tree-hugger factions, and could be anything from mad Treants, Wood Elves, and Nature spirits, to Minotaur packs, Lizardmen, or not-Native Americans. The Undead Legions are exactly what their archetype name is. Finally! An excuse to use your Tomb Kings army you haven’t played since GW [[The End Times|flushed Warhammer Fantasy Battle down the toilet]]. You could also play a mad necromancer with an army of skeletons, or a Vampire Count and his undead Aristocratic line. The Horde is anything that would be considered human or humanoid but uncivilized. Goblins, Orcs, Vikings, Mongols, Cavemen, Ogres, Trolls, even Beastmen if you think Lords of the Wild do too many weird things with trees. The Masters of the Underearth are once again, pretty self explanatory. Anything that typically lives underground would find itself in this archetype. Dwarves and Skaven are almost always the first two to jump to mind, but you could justify anything. The Otherworld is pretty much everything else. Demons, Devils, said Demon’s and Devil’s Blood-Cults, Eldritch Horrors like Cthulu, even Angels, anything that would be considered from a different plane of existence. Age of Magic is amazing in its freedom with what models you can use (as long as they’re around 28mm, no one will care if your men are a bit shorter), and opens the door to build an army that you couldn’t really envision in any other game.