Saga: Vikings (Part 5a - Levies)

So, as many of you have no doubt already noticed, I'm "Subject to Stupidity".

In the last post I wrote for this project, I presented a unit of spear-wielding levies as being a unit for my Saga Vikings, only to have it pointed out that Vikings don't have spear-wielding levies in their army list.

So, this unit is a replacement for the previous one, who will get re-purposed into a Strathclyde Welsh army at some point.

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Saga: Vikings (Part 5 - Levies)

Hot (well, lukewarm) on the heels of my previous Viking unit for Saga comes this motley bunch - some Levies bringing my army up to four points!

I think Gripping Beast have done a great job with these minis. Dynamic poses, great faces and so inexpensive! If I was to make any negative comment at all it would be that some variation in the clothing would be good. Maybe a bit of fur or a leather jerkin here or there. As it is every model is basically wearing the same tunic.

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Saga: Vikings (Part 3 - more Hearthguard)

I made it to the dizzying heights of 2 points of troops! Woohoo!

Progress on the Saga Vikings has been a slow, steady affair due to my current thing for project-juggling instead of just knuckling down to complete one army. It's a very slow way of working but, if I'm honest, probably a more enjoyable one as I've not reached the point of burn-out on an army where I'm bored of looking at them.

I do go through fads where I do more than one unit for a particular force as I'm "in the groove", but then I feel guilty for ignoring something and switch tracks.

It's working for me so I'm going to stick with it for now. As such it might be a while before I get to point #3! Anyway, without further ado: Hirdmen!

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Saga: Vikings (Part 4 - Warriors)

My last post on this project was at the beginning of January. It's June now. I've completed another unit - in Saga terms that is one point. A unit of 8 Bondi (Warriors).

One.

Anyway - here they are (Not much to show for five months, eh?):

I promise it won't be five months before the next point is completed.

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Scenery: Stone Circle

I distracted myself again.

I was working on a scenery piece to accompany my Warhammer Vampire Counts. It requires me to use a material I've not worked with before which is simply a chunk of building insulating foam that I wombled from a nearby builder's skip.

"Reduce, re-use, recycle!" as Bob the Builder might say.

Anyway - this is the foam:

Since I'd not worked with it before, I decided to practice my making something that was going to be a bit more forgiving of errors than the piece I'm planning for the Vampires, so I decided (as I'd just finished working on some Dark Ages models) to hack out a quick Stone Circle - a mini Stonehenge.

I created seven individually based items that can be used in different configurations or even just as objective markers, depending on the scenario being played.

A dolmen - a smaller relic to use as a centerpiece

The whole stone circle

Saga: Vikings (Part 2 - Hearthguard)

More Vikings - a unit of elite Hirdmen to accompany the Warlord!

Once again these are Gripping Beast models, equipped this time with Dane axes.

I think Gripping Beast have done a great job with their dark ages minis. Dynamic poses, nice sculpts and good castings. Very easy to work with.

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Saga: Vikings (Part 1 - Warlord)

Time to start another army - why not? I'm only working on 3 others, right?

I visited the Birmingham Museum and Art Gallery with my family a few months ago and was fascinated (again) by the Staffordshire Hoard. This amazing collection of Saxon artefacts and the associated items that the Museum have produced to enhance the display got me all excited about Saga again.

I'd already built an Anglo-Saxon army and next in line were some Vikings, so I've dusted off my sprues and nippers and started working on them.

Here's the first unit in what will be a 6-point army - my Warlord. I based him along with a Standard bearer to make him look a little more impressive.

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Saga: Anglo-Saxons (Part 24 - Whole army group shot)

So here I present my final post for this Saga project - a group shot of the entire Anglo-Saxon force, complete with shield decals in place. 41 models in total.

This was a very enjoyable project and a pleasant departure from working on GW stuff for me. I'm going to knock out a little warband for Frostgrave next (Pirates! Arrr!) and then get back to some long overdue GW stuff. Thanks to everyone who's taken the time to look in on my little project.

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Saga: Anglo-Saxons (Part 23 - Warriors Unit 2 - Finished!)

Work has completed on my current Saga unit and therefore my current Saga project! Woohoo - another one in the can, as the movie people say.

I did get myself some shield decals and I have to say I think the minis are looking better for them.

They're very fiddly to work with (Little Big Men decals sold through Gripping beast Minis) and need to be individually cut out with a craft knife.

They do, I think, look good, though.

I'll get a group shot of all the models in the whole warband (with their decals!) for my "Family Album" page.

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Saga: Anglo-Saxons (Part 22 - Warriors Unit 2 - Day 4)

And now they have trousers and boots!

That just leaves skin tones and hair to finish them off. I can almost taste the end of this project now.

I think I'm going to get some shield decals for these guys.

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Saga: Anglo-Saxons (Part 21 - Warriors Unit 2 - Day 3)

It's getting exciting now - this project is almost finished and the next one (a small force for Frostgrave) is waiting in the wings. In fact the work is queueing up like a sort of rowdy rabble, jockeying for position.

Some work done on clothing - all the under-armour tunics have been completed.

I'm not sure what will get done next - will it by my "long-overdue" Fantasy Undead? My "steeping in a bucket of Dettol for months" Traitor Marines? My "Woohoo GW are bringing Epic 40K back!" Ultramarines? Or my "Just bought a copy of Ronin" Samurai? Or should I finish my Tau? Should I paint my Imperial Knight? Or should I go back to Saga and do my Strathclyde Welsh or Vikings?

Argh! Too many choices.

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Saga: Anglo-Saxons (Part 20 - Warriors Unit 2 - Day 2)

Some more work done on my last Anglo-Saxon unit - armour drybrushed, leatherwork done.

It ain't much, but it's progress.

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Saga: Anglo-Saxons (Part 19 - Warriors Unit 2 - Day 1)

Work has begun on the final unit of my warband. I'm representing Anglo-Saxon warriors by again using Gripping Beast "Saxon Thegns" with heads taken from the "Dark Age Warriors" sprues. I'm doing that to differentiate between the Warriors and Hearthguard.

So here they are with their bases drybrushed, the metal portions of the shields and weapons drybrushed and the woodwork on the weapons painted.

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Saga: Anglo-Saxons (Part 18 - Hearthguard Unit 3 - Finished!)

My penultimate unit is now complete! Woohoo!

Just one left to go.

So here I proudly present another unit of Gripping Beast Saxon Thegns representing my hearthguard.

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Saga: Anglo-Saxons (Part 17 - Hearthguard Unit 3 - Day 4)

A little more work done on these guys. I got the trousers and boots done, leaving just the skin and hair to finish them off.

I'm approaching the end of this project now and have to say I've thoroughly enjoyed it. It's been a real departure from some of the things I've worked on recently and has given me a very enjoyable break from painting GW Warhammer 40K stuff.

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Saga: Anglo-Saxons (Part 16 - Hearthguard Unit 3 - Day 3)

So here we go with another splosh or two of paint.

I got about 40 mins in this morning and got the tunics done on these guys and all the wooden bits (reverse of shields, spear handles) drybrushed.

Trousers and boots next, then on to the skin/hair.

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Saga: Anglo-Saxons (Part 15 - Hearthguard Unit 3 - Day 2)

I've had a horrible couple of weeks at work and as a result not got much done. There seems to be some light at the end of the tunnel now so hopefully I can start to pick up the pace a bit.

Anyway - I've done a little more work on my Hearthguard unit - they now have some drybrushed armour, some painted leatherwork and the wooden face of the shields are done.

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Saga: Anglo-Saxons (Part 14 - Hearthguard Unit 3 - Day 1)

Paint: another day, another dollop.

I'm still not really back in to a routine in 2016 yet, but I've finally made a start on another unit for my nearly finished Saga Anglo-Saxons.

Another four-man Hearthguard unit. So far all I've done is drybrush the rocky bases, the weapons, helmets and shields and painted a basecoat on the weapon handles.

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Saga: Anglo-Saxons (Part 13 - Levies - Finished!)

Happy New Year to you all!

I've been dragging my heels with respect to blogging over the Christmas/New Year period. I've been busy (after a fashion) painting but haven't bothered taking any WIP snaps of this unit so I'm just presenting them as a finished unit.

So what we have here is a unit of 12 x Gripping Beast "Dark Age Warriors" representing the Levies in my Saga Anglo-Saxon force.

That leaves me just 12 models left to finish this army! Woohoo!

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Saga: Anglo-Saxons (Part 12 - Warriors Unit 1 - Finished!)

For my last update before Christmas I've completed work on my first unit of Anglo-Saxon Warriors.

I'm going to have a short break before staring work on my next unit (some Levies) so until my next post I'd like to wish all of you that celebrate at this time of year happiness and peace (apart from on the table-top, which should be running with the imaginary blood of your enemies!!).

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