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Saturday, October 5, 2013

The Irish unleashed!

The Irish are tough as nails in Saga.  Armed with javelins and a battleboard that amps up shooting, they'll bleed our an opponent with deadly missile fire. Sons of Dana allows them to shoot out of terrain even when they don't have a unit in it.  Imagine one minute you're walking next to some trees and the next, you've got a javelin in your backside!

When I start a new painting project, I'll often lead with my favorite unit from the bunch.  I love the energy of these Gripping Beast figures so they were the first on the painting table. The Irish can field up to 8 Irish Wolfhounds.  The hounds move as fast as mounted units and they're not slowed down by terrain.  That makes them a fast moving left hook and another reason to avoid terrain. Javelins and man eating dogs, how much worse can it get? Whenever I go against the Irish with my Vikings or Normans, it always turns out badly for me.

The tufts are from tajima1 and the plowed field is from Andrew's terra firma studios.  Shield transfers and the banner are by LBMS.  I kept the painting schemes fairly simple for the warriors, saving the tartan for the hearthguard in the next round.



Today, I ran a demo game of Saga at The Source Comics and Games with the Normans facing off against the Vikings.  There was a steady flow of onlookers to our table and I might have picked up 2 new converts to the system.  While it's a challenge to book a table at the store, the foot traffic and the compliments on my painting make it worthwhile!

35 comments:

  1. They look fabulous Monty, tough as nails!

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    1. Thanks Michael! They do know how to fight, that's for sure.

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  2. Thanks Andrew! I hate seeing the dogs running through the woods to chew up my warband. ;-)

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  3. Hi Monty,

    They are tough as an Ale ; -)

    buy for your vikings some dry dog food and a good riding mower for two points it will be a nasty surprise for the Irish player ;-)
    I 'll not comment your paint work ;-) once more they are top notch !
    "bon courage" for your work, I wish you all the best!

    Cheers

    thefrenchjester " irish pub fan ;-) "

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    1. Thanks Gillies! I too am a fan of the ale and the pub, and last night, I fear I went an ale too far! I do like the dog food idea. Or a curse of some sort.

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  4. Cry 'havoc' and let slip the dogs of war...
    ; )

    A fearsome band of warriors indeed, well done!

    That Sons of Dana rule sounds like a game breaker; you turn your back for a second and someone lobs a potato at your head. I'm imagining Norman patrols moving through 'bandit country' looking nervously about as they wonder if Charlie (or his Irish equivalent) is going to spring another ambush on them.

    And next up, the hearthguard... and the joys of tartan!

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    1. Ev, I love it! The first time I saw it played on me, I just shook my head. "The Irish are everywhere" my gleeful opponent gloated.

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  5. The wolfhound sculpts are terrific. Great sense of motion in each of them. I would certainly hate to turn around and see a pack of them bearing down on me.

    Very nice check work on the Irishmen wearing the green checked tunic.

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    1. Thanks Jonathan! These are another fun bunch of figures.

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  6. Excellent work on all of these, Monty. Love the hounds! Best, Dean

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    1. Thanks Dean! If only I could field a Techno Servo to deflect all the javelins.

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  7. Cracking paintjob again! The dogs really look the part.

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  8. Hi Monty,
    A fabulous work as always, colors are realli impresive and the dogs a great addition...love the tufts too!
    All the best,
    Phil.

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  9. Very nice stuff again, real eye candy.

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  10. Excellent Monty!!

    Yes, it did go badly for the Vikings in the end. Silly people always thinking they can come over to our little Island and take it from us :)

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    1. Anne, good one! You all do have a bit of history on this front.

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  11. Excellent work on these Monty, I really like them! The dogs are a great addition (I plan to paint some of them up for my Picts).

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    1. That will look very cool, Jonas. Looking forward to your Picts.

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  12. Monty, you know why God invented alcohol, don't you? So the Irish wouldn't take over the world.

    FMB

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    1. Thinking of all the great Irish units of history, that line has a kernel of truth. Now I want to paint the Irish Brigade. Longstreet, anyone?

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  13. Love your Irish warband Monty !!!

    Best regards Michael

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    1. Thanks Michael! After TFL releases their next DB supplement, I should be able to see them in DB too.

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  14. Love those Irish but then I am a little biased!

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  15. Awesome work. I have seen the Irish in action on the table and they are tough hombres.
    cheers

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    1. Thanks! Now that there'll be two Irish factions running around locally, I despair of winning with my warbands. May be time to paint up Welsh? ;-)

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  16. The Irish ARE everywhere. And we are all Kings!

    Oh, and nice work, as usual. Looking forward to the hearthguard.

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    1. Hey Brent! Thanks, and we have to get a game in!

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  17. Love those hounds. I picked up a pack and look forward to doing them up.

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    1. They were my favorite of the bunch! Well, those and the champions. Being a dog lover, the dogs win by a nose!

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