Spanish for Saga

Or alternately, "out with the old, in with the new." I discovered Crusader Miniatures El Cid Spanish well after I'd painted my Spanish warband using Gripping Beast Normans. I fell in love with the Crusader figures the first time I saw them.  With so much history to paint, it seems silly to repeat a project but that's whats happening here.    

After putting in an order with Crusader, I set about locking in my new color scheme.  My GB Spanish were done in yellows & reds. I tried yellow and black on these Spanish footmen for a test run. Overall, I'm pleased but I'll take the yellow down a notch.  

I'm using a desert basing that matches my Moors so the two can be used against each other in Hail Caesar.  In Saga, I can swap individual figures back and forth for a nice Reconquista look to the warbands.   

With 33-41 horses to paint, I dug out a tutorial on the Metal Mountain blog for the oil wipe method.  I was thrilled with the combination of speed and shading I achieved so the oil wipe method is a lock as well.

I'm blessed to have a buyer in Chicago for almost all of my 15mm & 28mm painting. After a few emails, my Spanish/Norman/Breton/Strathclyde warband was on its way to the Windy City.  The buyer owns a gaming store so these fellows will see the table quite a bit.  It makes me happy to know that something I've painted is put to good use. If you're ever in Chicago and you see these lads out, send me a picture!

Dead Man's Hand

These lovely figures are the "Daughters of the West" set by Great Escape Games.  Each is a character in her own right and that made these fun to paint. Its hard to come up with a back story when you're painting 70 figure warbands for SAGA but it worked for me here.

These fellows are part of the Dead Man's Hand Rogues collection.  Speaking of a story, the Preacher looks to be channeling the abolitionist John Brown.  I can't wait to get him out on the tabletop, even if it is just for a bit of color in a gunfight.

My friend John Stentz hosts a Halloween-themed game of DMH every October. We played  "Dead Man's Hand, Dead Again" with Cowboys versus Zombies last year. This  year was "Night of the Undead Man's Hand" with Outlaws versus Lawmen versus zombies.  You read that right.  Each turn, 3 zombies spawned from a grocery store in the middle of the table and moved to the sound of the nearest gun!  It was a target rich environment with Oktoberfest beers, pumpkin pie and lots of laughs. It's a testament to the game that 3 years on, Dead Man's Hand in still in  rotation and I'm already looking forward to our next Halloween showdown.  

I've got two new SAGA warbands under way. The US Grand Melee is next March and I've got 4 months to paint and train up with a new warband.  I'm split on taking the Spanish or Mutatawwi'a. Whatever I take, it'll be another epic event, courtesy of Eric Hagen and all the great players who turn out. This gaming life is a good one!