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Saturday, February 1, 2014

The Rocky Road to Dublin...

The rocky road to Dublin passes through these gents, so best take care.  All Gripping Beast figs with LBMS shield transfers. The Norse Gaels remind me of the saying "To a hammer, everything looks like a nail." These guys are hammers, every one, and they have the battleboard to prove it.

The Norse-Gaels SAGA battleboard is built on personal challenges. Personal challenges represent combat between single champions from units engaged in melee and are settled with a die roll. The defender can decline the challenge but then the Norse Gaels automatically get the benefit of their battleboard ability associated with the challenge.  Most opponents will accept the challenge on the off chance of winning the die role and denying the NG their battleboard ability. I say "off chance" because the NG battleboard can generate a +1 or 2  bonus for personal challenges. The odds should always be stacked in their favor.




A couple of neat tricks...

Howling Axes: Gives 3 additional attack dice, 5 if the unit is armed with Dane axes.  That's a good reason to field axes in this warband.

Slaughter:  All 1s rolled become hits, 2s too if you use a rare rune.  When combined with the Dane Axe, you can turn all of your attack dice into hits. Combine this ability with Howling Axes and a small unit of hearthguard can wipe out a much larger one.  Deadly!

With abilities like Slaughter, Howling Axes, Death Dance and Ostmen’s Fury, their Viking roots shine through. If you like running Vikings in SAGA, you’ll love their mad cousins, the Norse-Gaels.

I'm working my way through the Great Courses lectures on the Vikings.  The 34 half hour lectures count as 1 book at Audible.com so with my monthly subscription, it's a bargain compared to the retail rate. I paint with the door to my painting room open and I think my family is enjoying the lectures as much as I do! So far, it's a great deep dive on the Norse. When I'm done, I'm going to grab the Romans and Barbarians course next.    

42 comments:

  1. Hi Monty,

    really good painting work !
    the are just great!
    where did you found your spray can for Tartans?
    I haven't found any at Wallmart;
    joke apart, the Tartan style on the guy who is running is a masterpiece!
    How many more Saga bands will you paint???;-)

    All the best;

    Gilles

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    1. Thanks Gillies! I found a fellow unloading GB figures new in the box at 40%, so I picked up another 3 warbands. Before I paint any more though, I've got some 15mm work and some WW II. Variety-it's the spice of life!

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  2. Another great work with these troops, clothes and shields are very impressive! And I love the sentence "To a hammer, everything looks like a nail", a beautiful motto!
    Best,
    Phil.

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    1. Thanks Phil! How about a Chinese saying? The nail that sticks up gets hammered down. Pretty telling as well. ;-)

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  3. More great Norse work! The red with white plaid is terrific. I bet these "hammers" will be in search of something to "nail" on the battlefield.

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    1. Thanks Jonathan! I do hope they're as fun to run as they look.

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  4. Very nice Monty! Love the unit with the spears.

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    1. Thanks Simon. They do look like a tough bunch, I think.

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  5. Lovely work !!!

    Thanks for the intro of the norse gaelis

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  6. More tasty work, Monty. You've mastered the plaids for sure; have to love the Celtic designs on the shields too. Best, Dean

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    1. You sir, have a very sharp eye! I did go through my LMBS transfers to pick out the ones that had a bit more of the celtic feel to them. Cool that it shows up on the other side.

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  7. Minions....you must have minions...
    Your ability to turn out figures this quickly and in such quality points to some sort of unnatural happenings...minions I say!


    This post was brought to you by pure jealousy a subsidiary of pure envy.

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    1. Fair and balanced...I've been painting Gripping Beast Dark Ages steady for a year. So the reps are the key to speed. That and damn it, its cold outside so I paint every night. :-)

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    2. As always, well done sir. The plaids and designs are outstanding.

      ...I have some early war awi highlanders that I've caught twice packaging themselves for shipment to you.

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  8. Magical stuff Monty. The plaid on the chap in the green tunic is quite possibly the best effort I've ever seen at this scale! Would you mind doing a tutorial (with pics!) on how you paint your plaids?

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    1. You sweet talker, you!

      The slung tunics are SO much easier than tartan over a whole figure. I'll do a tutorial but just so I don't leave you hanging, its 2 tone highlighting. Dark blue base over the tunic, nicely spaced thin lines of darker green and off white. Then bring the highlight colors. Brighter blue at the top edges of the folds, with a brighter green and white in very thin lines over the base lines.

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  9. Great looking boys and a great song by the Dubliners!

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    1. Thanks Fran and good catch! I love the Dubliners and they've helped me stay awake on long drives as I sing along. One day, I'd like to sing these great folk songs in Ireland rather than my car. Lord help anyone who hast to listen!

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  10. Great stuff Monty, really like how these came out.

    John

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    1. Thanks John! These are older GB figures and not quite as nice as some of their later lines. Nevertheless, they've painted up nicely.

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  11. I can only reiterate the comments of my esteemed colleague Mr Mills.

    This is top-shelf work, Monty, and shows these quality casts to excellent advantage. You've chosen some great transfers for the shields as well.

    I know you've been painting quite a few warbands on a commission basis, but how many do you have in your own collection now?

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    1. Thanks Ev! I have Vikings, Anglo-Danes, Normans and the Norse Gaels. I've got another 3 warbands in reserve for the rest of the year. I have this idea of buying Warbases bases to port my skirmish figures into Impetus or Hail Caesar. All I lack to get that going is someone else to play Impetus or Hail Caesar with. ;-)

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    2. I'm still building my Scots up to 6pts (one point of Hearthguard to go!), but will be looking further afield for another warband for my next project.

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  12. Splendid paintjob once again...
    Better not to mess with these fellows.

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  13. As always, Monty, terrific work. I love seeing Dark Ages stuff done well, and more chaps without shoes! Hardcore.
    Love the tartan over the shoulder of that one figure, a small masterpiece.
    SW Ontario got pelted with more snow yesterday. How's MN doing?

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    1. Thanks Padre! I have to wear houseslippers all winter so yea, I'm soft and these fellows were tough tough tough!

      No snow but the snowbanks on my driveway are getting to the point where I need to climb up and shovel them down to make room for the next dump.

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  14. Brilliant Monty! Some of your best miniatures to date I think.

    I really like the skin tones, and of course – the tartans.

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  15. Thanks Jonas! Can't wait to see your Saxons in a DB AAR! And maybe your new walls will be in it too.

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  16. Excellent painting, really like the green cloaks and the older guy in the brown tunic.
    Phil

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    1. Thanks Kreoseus! Probably best not to mention his loss of hair, with that spear and all.

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  17. Lovely work Monty!

    Maybe one day you will make it to Ireland and sing the song in a public house in Dublin.

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    1. Anne, I hope you make it back to Ireland very soon. That would even be better!

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  18. Very nice work yet again Monty! You have quite a large Dark Age collection now!

    Christopher

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    1. Thanks Christopher, and it's true! I went from zero to 4 warbands. Now I need to leverage them further. ;-)

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  19. I am not commenting on their looks, since they look lovely as usual (oops, I did it again ;-)).

    It sure sounds like an interesting war band to run. Funny thing is... while I looked at almost every war band in the books, it seems I must always have read over these. Should not have done so!

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    1. Burkhard! When I first saw them, I skipped them as I didn't get the personal combat part. Now that I've painted them, lets see if I "get" the personal combat angle now!

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