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Monday, August 3, 2020

Back with Byzantines!

This is my Age of Crusades/post-Manzikert disaster Byzantines.  Information on what the Byzantine army looked like at that time is quite thin. Into that space, I created a "down on its luck" appearance where armor is quite rare.  

The force is composed of Fireforge plastic Byzantine Spearmen & Auxiliaries (for the robed bodies), Gripping Beast plastic Arab foot (more robed bodies after I sawed off the left arms), light cavalry and heavy cavalry.  I sourced extra shields and my warlord from Gripping Beast. The shield transfers are from LBMS and Wargametransfers.com.  Lastly, I mixed in Arab heads and torsos to reflect an Arab influence in appearance. I'm quite happy with them at the finish line.  

I assembled these March of 2019 for the UK Saga World Cup. Then I had the bad luck of breaking my foot in 3 places and being misdiagnosed for 3 months. Limping on a broken foot for those months was a disaster. I thought I had a soft tissue injury and tried to gut it out. In the end, I could hardly walk or stand on it, ended my plans for the big show. Disappointed, I sold my unpainted Byzantine warband and then at the start of this summer, I reacquired and painted them.   







Last summer, I also was heartbroken to discover my blog was broken. Most of my posts from 2017 and older lost their links to photos. I've been relinking pictures with my old posts but its a slow,  painstaking task. It was such a mess that I quit my blog.  

I've had a change of heart. I'm going post when I can and continue fixing my old posts.  After a year's break, I'm happy to report I'm alive, well and gaming when I can. So, how was your year?  ;-) 
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29 comments:

  1. caveadsum1471August 3, 2020 at 11:31 AM

    Great to see you back! Your usual lovely clean finish on some nicely converted figures, sounds like it's been quite a year!
    Best Iain

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    1. MontyAugust 3, 2020 at 4:36 PM

      Thanks Iain! It was a rough stretch last summer but this year I'm back with 2 good feet. Makes a huge difference! :-)

      Delete
  2. Michael AwdryAugust 3, 2020 at 12:59 PM

    Great to hear from you and bang with a bang, great stuff!

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    1. MontyAugust 3, 2020 at 4:37 PM

      Thanks Michael! Now its time to sort what'll be next from the queue.

      Delete
  3. KevinAugust 3, 2020 at 1:24 PM

    As always nice work, they look great. Sorry to hear about your misfortunes but glad to hear your on mend and pushing forward. Thanks for sharing your work.

    Cheers
    Kevin

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    1. MontyAugust 3, 2020 at 4:39 PM

      Thanks so much Kevin, I appreciate it. It was hard to post up after such a long layoff but its good to be back.

      Delete
  4. TamsinPAugust 3, 2020 at 5:05 PM

    Good to see you back, Monty!

    Nice painting on the Byzies! :)

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    1. MontyAugust 4, 2020 at 6:33 AM

      Thanks so much, TamsinP! I see you haven't slowed down a bit. Not a bit! PS, my family is sick of hearing me say "In England, its pronounces Bi Zan tines. Isn't that fascinating?" They groan a bit with the retelling. :-)

      Delete
  5. fireymonkeyboyAugust 3, 2020 at 7:59 PM

    Welcome back! I've been catching you on Thorsdays, but nice to see you re-embracing the written word. Lovely Byzantines - the saturated colours are ace.

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    1. MontyAugust 4, 2020 at 6:29 AM

      Marcus! I hope your painting and gaming with the cub is going well. Don't be surprised when one day, he leapfrogs you (just a bit). Thanks for reading and watching...I really appreciate it!

      Delete
  6. Joseph.CadeAugust 3, 2020 at 11:19 PM

    I did not comment much on your blog but I did check it out regularly and enjoyed it, you are such a great painter - the eye candy always a treat. So nice to see you back again.

    Oh and nice paintjobs on the Byzantines!

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    1. MontyAugust 4, 2020 at 6:27 AM

      Thanks Joseph! When I go to paint something new, I look for pictures from other hobbyists to get ideas and inspiration. My goal here is to contribute to that.Thanks for following & I appreciate your kind words.

      Delete
  7. thefrenchjesterAugust 3, 2020 at 11:24 PM

    Hi Monty,

    nice to see you back on the mat with the eye of the tiger and two good legs to run after the chicken ;-)

    take care of you.

    Gilles

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    1. MontyAugust 4, 2020 at 6:22 AM

      Gilles! Thanks, it is good to be back and hear from you. One day, there will be a trip to Paris. First, I have to finish running up and down all of these stairs in Philadelphia.

      Delete
  8. Christopher(aka Axebreaker)August 4, 2020 at 7:43 AM

    Welcome back and army looks lovely!

    Christopher

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  9. PrufrockAugust 4, 2020 at 10:53 AM

    Good to have you back, Monty! Sorry to hear about the medical problems. I have to say though that the break seems to have had you return even more proficient at painting than you were before!

    Cheers,
    Prufock

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    1. MontyAugust 4, 2020 at 4:51 PM

      Pru, thanks! Yea, bad luck happens. I'm glad that whole episode is now behind me. Its good to be mobile again.

      Delete
  10. Ray RousellAugust 4, 2020 at 3:05 PM

    Glad to have you back posting again Monty! Sorry to here about losing your posts, I'd be gutted.
    Gotta say though the figures look fantastic!

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    1. MontyAugust 4, 2020 at 4:52 PM

      Ray! You're so right, I was completely gutted. I still to this day don't know what happened (or find an easy way to fix it all). I did have a long think and decide to keep it going. Ah, life! Thanks!

      Delete
  11. HendridAugust 5, 2020 at 9:20 AM

    Glad to see your back (and with some fine Byzantines), losing the blog would be a kick in the nuts for sure, but good to see your kicking back in fine style. :-)

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    1. MontyAugust 6, 2020 at 1:48 PM

      Right, it was a rotten, terrible, no good surprise. Still, forward with painting and playing. And blogging too it seems. Thanks!

      Delete
  12. Jonathan FreitagAugust 5, 2020 at 7:28 PM

    Welcome back, Monty! As always, your armies are colorful and bright.

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    1. MontyAugust 6, 2020 at 1:49 PM

      Thanks Jonathan! You have not slowed down a bit. :-)

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  13. DeanMAugust 6, 2020 at 5:27 PM

    Great looking Byzantine army, Monty! Great to see your beautiful work again.

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    1. MontyAugust 6, 2020 at 7:23 PM

      Thanks so much, Dean! I think I'll be following you into Victrix Ancients this fall.

      Delete
  14. BattletwinAugust 9, 2020 at 2:22 PM

    Great army there Monty, love the use of colours

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  15. The Dale WardensSeptember 22, 2020 at 12:17 PM

    MONTY!
    Good to see you're back. I was wondering what was up and meant to reach out, but things have been crazy on my end and it never got past the "I should contact Monty..." phase.

    I don't know if I ever told you: Do you ever watch Dice Tower on youtube? It's a pretty popular board games review show. The presenter Tom Vasel did a review of FFG EVents Center on his show. He was attending a Cosmic Encounter convention and filming on the same day you had the Saga event me and a couple of the Dale Wardens came to visit you at FFG. It's just one of those random things where you end up in the background in someone's video (and happen to find it.)

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_H8clpLh3zY ABout 6:20 in. I can't find you but, I see myself talking to Jason, and Jim and Grant are in there.

    Hang in there. Sounds like a rough go with the foot.

    all the best,
    Dave

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    1. MontySeptember 23, 2020 at 7:21 PM

      Thanks! It is so much better having 2 good feet this year. That is awesome, I remember that game day and how cool to see footage.

      I hope you are doing well too Dave! Looking forward to seeing you out in the gaming world one day. :-)

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