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Tuesday, September 10, 2013

Anglo-Danes & warlords, too

In Saga, you can base up your warlord on either a 40mm or 50mm base. I use 50mm in order to have more room to create a diorama of sorts. For my Viking warlord, I broke out bark and fiddled for some time to find just the right pose.  I do how like how the grays and whites all came together here.  

For my Anglo-Dane warlord, I had a good number of figures to pair with him but ultimately, I kept coming back to the plump bannerman.  Balding and stocky, I think they make quite a pair.  When the dinner bell rings, don't stand in their way.  


Last up is the whole Anglo-Dane warband-16 huscarls, 16 cerols and a sullen warlord mustered out in double time.  The A-Ds painted up quickly but then, painting Vikings this spring was a great warmup for painting their later brethren. Now that they're done, I can't wait to get them on the tabletop.
I did get a game of Field of Glory in Saturday.  As the only historicals in a fantasy store, we got a good deal of walk-up traffic and comments on our armies.  Once again, the Romans were impossible to overcome even though v2  has knocked them down from ubermen to better than everyone else in period. Stalin once said quantity has a quality of it's own but then, he didn't have to fight the Romans, did he?

It was a fun, fast-paced game with me working the flanks and aiming for overlaps to neutralize Roman superiority. As my initial charges didn't go well, I came back and charged with every unit on the table in the following turn. That felt very Galatian but it didn't turn the tide. The Roman historian Livy would have written about me "Descendit vibrantur" or "He went down swinging."
Pants!  Who needs them?  

57 comments:

  1. Great painting as well on the Vikings and the Anglo-Danish. The basing is awesome. And yes I'd vetter not stand in their way at lunchtime...

    About your game : At least you can be quite sure it's historicaly correct when you lose against done ;-)

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    1. Moiterei! LOL, and my specialty must be historically losing to the damned Romans.

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  2. Those are some terrific command stands, and that banner is luscious! Really fine brushwork all around. As to the last picture, "going down swinging" has uncomfortable associations when applied to a bunch of naked charging fellows . Ugh!

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    1. Thanks Michael! I swear, it was an inadvertent funny. Maybe the best kind!

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  3. Oh come on, now this is just getting crazy. Those command stands are simply amazing. :)

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    1. Jonathan! It was a close run thing. I had a heck of a time getting the figures level and spaced. Luckily, it did come together after some amount of swearing.

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  4. Great work those A-D's look stunning and who is not impressed by a naked Celtic warband
    Peace James

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    1. Thanks James! It did raise a few eyebrows with the Warhammer set. Let's see Space Marines try to pull off the "no suit or pants" look.

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  5. Super looking command stands and nice looking game! Go back to Impetus where the Romans are more reasonable to fight against.;-)

    Christopher

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    1. Bingo! In one of the Impetus demos I hosted, the Gauls TORE UP the Romans. Since quite a few of our fellows run Romans, I think it put them off the system. Its funny that Impetus come from Italy but the Romans aren't too tough in the rules!

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    2. Build your own FOG Roman army and play that until they are bored to death with civil wars and refuse to play any of your Celtic armies they like to trample in FOG unless they play Impetus too where you get a fair shake with your Celts.

      Christopher

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    3. Sometimes, the best ideas are right in front of our nose!

      I don't want to take anything away from getting out and pushing lead but...there wasn't a single melee on the table that I wasn't on a negative modifier to the Romans positive modifier. Not one. Suddenly, I remembered why I sold my Gauls. ;-)

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    4. Not exactly an incentive to play against FOG Romans is it. I'm sure with everyone playing Romans it will get old quick.;-) You have shown flexibility and so should they. Good luck!

      Christopher

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  6. Superb! The basing, shields, banner and figures are all wonders to behold. Certainly will easily be identified as Warlords. Best, Dean

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    1. Thanks Dean, I appreciate it! There is that moment of doubt before it all comes together. Then when you're done and it turns out, you can breath easier.

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  7. The whites do look terrific and that banner is striking. Your Viking command stand is a piece of art.

    I never really could get into FoG. Always seemed like too much work for too little result.

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    1. Thanks Jonathan! No doubt, FoG is a very heavy lift with so many phases, rules and chrome. I love ancients so much that I'd play it in any form or format. Locally, it's FoG or nothing. I have 8 boxes of FoG armies so I've got a "sunk" cost. Someone told me you can do Hail Caesar in 15mm , so I should at least give that a go.

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  8. Cracking work! They look superb, bravo!

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    1. Thanks Curt, I appreciate it. BTW, your latest project is spectacular. Made me think of a great PC game, "Stalker."

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  9. Cracking work! They look superb, bravo!

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  10. Exquisite looking command figures, Monty! Very nice!

    As to the Galatians 'going down swinging', I suppose not having pants that's an occupational hazard :D (damn, the Padre beat me to it!)

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    1. Thanks Rosbif! There are occupational hazards that flow naturally from working without pants.

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  11. Stunning work Monty

    Love that you have bot the heathen Raven and the christian cross on the Viking command base, Greate to place them on a stone/clif, realy got them to be eye catching. I only miss a Raven banner;)

    The A-D Warlord realy looks as he mean business, love the banner man, greate paint work !

    Best regards Michael

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    1. Michael, thanks! A christian cross? I thought it was a biohazard symbol, lol.

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    2. Vikings was a true biohazard back then:)

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  12. Your inner artist is really coming through here Monty. Those command stands are brilliant. You've placed the tufts and flowers in exactly the right places to enhance the figures and that flag---WOW!!

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    1. Anne, thanks so much! Painters like you have a natural eye for this. For me, it's a bit of trial and error. It's a treat when it comes together like it should!

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  13. Lovely work - may they loot until their hearts' content. Same for the Galatians!

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    1. Caliban, great line! Lovely looters looking for a bite...

      Guess who saw Les Miserables recently?

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  14. These are really excellent Monty , I especially like the stones on the Viking one. Great work!

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  15. Splendid, really! It will be a pleasure to play with these beauties...even in the unlikely event that you lose! Basing, painting, flag, all is perfect Monty!

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    1. Phil! I'm hoping my Viking warlord will get a +1 armor class for being uphill in battle. Good luck with that one!

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  16. Excellent work!
    The basing looks great and the paintjob is very, very good.

    Cheers
    Stefan

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  17. These are really good, Monty; you've given each warlord a distinctive set of terrain on his base, and the individual paint jobs on them and their banner bearers are top notch.

    Now I have to get a 50mm base for my next warlord!

    And now, a moment's silence for those Galatians who fell before the Roman steamroller... *sob* ..again!

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    1. EV, thanks! If we had a moment of silence for each time my Gauls have lost, I'd be able to get a nap in!

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    2. I am similarly prone to defeat, alas.

      Unfortunately, I tend to get too narrowly focused on one aspect of My Cunning Plan (TM), and rely on the opponent being extraordinarily obliging. I'm a Varro rather than a Hannibal, I'm afraid!

      Combine this with generally appalling luck with the dice (not for nothing has the expression "he rolled like an Ev" passed into our group's lexicon) and I am guaranteed to lose almost every time, from skirmish-level games up to army-level engagements.

      Oh well, at least I'm consistent!

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    3. "He rolled like an Ev." Oh, that has gotta hurt. Tell yourself the Law of Large Numbers will kick in any time to even things out! Paybacks are hell!

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  18. Hi Monty,

    you are a top painter!they are stunning! they are perfect all of us are OK on that!
    for the Gauls just add more cavalry, they will be on even against all the romans could field and more chariots they will be on minus 1 against the romans but with the double of dice, pick the minimum of medium infantry just to hold a rough hill and take all the mounted nobility and ambacts on horses to crush all the opponents on their way to the dinner's place ;-)
    more wheat for the horses with no name!;-)

    Cheers

    the"gallic jester";-)

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    1. Hi Gilles! Thanks for your kind words!

      I should probably bug you off line for FoG Roman killing tips.
      In impact, Cav is down due to Impact Foot getting a +1 against mounted and in melee, the Romans get a +1 for Skilled Swordsman and +1 for armor against protected. I might have done it wrong but I was down on every melee whether it was Cav, Lt Chariot and foot. Enough bellyaching. At least I got out of the house!

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    2. And I did take you up on the tip and order the magazine with an article about winning with Gauls. It's still travelling to the US on a slow boat, I guess. Good tip and thanks for it, Gilles!

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    3. Hi Monty,
      Ididn't take any account of fighting the legionnaries, but against their small flank protections with the help of a field commander ,the armoured nobles in front and the protected ones on the flanks and rear; if you are very agressive on his both flanks the roman cannot advance and must stay packed around his camp and become an easy target;
      in V2 only one of their +1 is usable in same time so attack his mounted and lights with the weight of number of your cavalry ;-)
      I always like when a plan is going well ;-)

      Cheers

      Gilles " the gallic Hannibal Smith";-)
      ps: perhaps your magazine is on board of the " Night boat to Cairo";-) more seriously you'll be very happy to read it;

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  19. Great work on the Warlords Monty! Rather tempted by the Steppe Nomads at the moment...

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    1. Thanks Cyrus and that would be a fun warband to paint! Hmmm. Must. Focus.

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  20. Gorgeous stuff. Love the stone work!

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  21. You're very talented painter, mate! Great paintingjob!

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    1. Thanks Yori! You're doing some fabulous M & T work! A friend of mine wants to try it so maybe someday...I will too.

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  22. Monti,

    they are looking real good (as does the whole war band)!

    I think they make a good match. they have this aura of two old warriors who have been through a lot together. Seeing this combo I feel like in the past they might have been mates as children. One the son of the Chief, the other the son of a minor noble. Through the years they have stood through many battles and when one became warlord himself he made the other his bannerman. Not sure why but these two minis seem to radiate such a relation... good choice!

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    1. Burkhard, I love your backstory! You've shown over the years how to make a command stand. I LOVE what you did with the Napoleonic stand the water and pond!

      This was a good lesson to me about the importance of having a "lead mountain." I had quite a few unpainted Viking figures to pick through. If I'd only had a few, this wouldn't have come together quite as nicely.

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    2. Now you humble me!

      You are right about the lead mountain. I sorely missed it when I was doing my Viking command and was happy one of my mates had one for the dark ages I could draw from!

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  23. Monty, this is really wonderful work. Well done indeed!

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  24. Love the brush work, Monty. You are an inspiration for my future!

    Oh, the rumors of my demise are grossly overstated. We will have to get a Saga game in soon -- October sometime?

    And pants truly are overrated . . .

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    1. The rumor is that you walk without touching the ground! Love does that to a man. The game is here and ready when you are. Maybe Saga and Octoberfest beers are in order; 2 of the 3 best things in life!

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