Norse Gaels Set Sail

I started painting my Norse-Gaels in January of 2014 and just finished them two weeks ago. 72 figures is a lot for a SAGA warband but I wanted all options. With new warbands in the painting queue and others resting, I put these up for sale.  Since they went to a local player, I'll get to see them at our SAGA events.  Bonus, the $ will fund my airbrush setup now that I've picked out my hardware.

The Gripping Beast & Footsore Irish figures mix very well.  I recommend both for anyone painting Norse-Gaels.  I painted up a warlord with Dane Axe and one without.  A priest is very handy with this warband too. Hearthguard with Dane Axe and without.  When running 20-30 warriors with Dane Axe, I tend to take my hearthguard without axes.  I tend to leave my levy javelinmen at home.  Maybe the new warlord will give them a workout?  Warriors without Dane Axes are javelin-armed and have a lower armor class to shooting.  Shooty warbands go after these lads first so be prepared. I do love the Footsore scuplt with the head! Warriors with Dane Axe.  I like to max out on these.  Buffed with abilities like Howling Axes and Slaughter, these fellows are deadly in 5 and 6 man units! 

I took these Norse Gaels to my first SAGA Grand Melee and they performed very well.  Painting and playing them was a blast but now they're off to serve a new warlord. Cheers, boys!

Celtic swirls for SAGA

Scrounging for something quick to paint, I found these resin casts I bough for SAGA's Sacred Ground scenario.  The Fenris Games casts are clearly inspired by Celtic triple swirl rock carvings. The casts are not glued down so I can move them around.  They'll pull double duty as rocky ground or Sacred Ground as needed.   

Tower Games is host a SAGA tournament today and I'm going to run a Strathclyde Welsh warband. I scrounged up a Strathclyde warlord to lead the boys.  My buddy said this would make a great gift for his eldest daughter.  All kidding aside, its a nice bit of sculpting from Gripping Beast and he does have a throwback look.  

I pulled my Norse-Gaels warband out for a head count and group shot. Since I can only field 6 points (about 41 figures) at the SAGA Grand Melee in Chicago, nearly half of these lads will be cheering from the sidelines. As much as I've enjoyed them, I'm ready to play a new faction. I'm thinking of posting these up for sale after the tournament.  I'll also share tips and observations for playing the Norse-Gaels once Adepticon is over.  I've found them a tricky faction to play but once you get on a roll, they can really rip it up.  

You may have noticed my blogging and commenting is getting spotty. That's because I've got a 1,200+ figure West Wind Punic War commission under way. The upside is the new figures are a joy to paint.  The downside is I won't be able to paint and blog with a project this big. To fill the gap, I set up a Twitter account -  Monty Luhmann@TwinCitiesGamer. New to the Twittersphere, I need peeps to follow and to follow me. 

I hope your staying warm and surviving winter.  I am but just barely thanks to my paintbrushes.  

Under a Raven banner

To finish my Norse-Gael warband, I decided to paint up a raven banner.  Accounts of the Battle of Clontarf (fought between the Norse Gaels and the Irish) include Jarl Sigurd and his magical raven banner.  Here's hoping that one of these bring me some magic in my games of SAGA.

How did it turn out? Well, I didn't like my first banner so I ended up with versions 1, 2 and 3. That gives me 4 choices for a banner.  I'd love to hear which you like the best.  And I promise I won't be offended if you choose the LBMS transfer.

I painted the white linen down to a dark base color.  It seems to me that you need a dark base and at least two highlights to make a banner pop. Below, you'll see an odd figure that comes from a 10th century Norse-Gael coin.  I love the figure but I haven't figured out how to make it look good on a banner.  So he ended up being a bit of a dead end.

This shot includes the green version. Since the background color was quite dark, I had to use a light color for the raven. I used bright red dots to try to make him pop.  

For my 3rd and final attempt, I painted the linen black.  Then I worked up to a sky blue background and highlights, being careful to keep black intact for a rough look.  

Thanks goes out to Michael of the Dalauppror blog for his tips and suggestions.  I was getting a little frustrated with this and he helped see me through.  That is the great part of blogging, isn't it? You can always reach out to a fellow blogger when you get stuck or need encouragement.  

Both of my kids are home from college and that is the best part of Christmas.  Where-ever you are, I hope you get to eat well, drink well, and spend time with the people you love.  Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays!

Chop, chop, choppin' on Odin's door...

Architects of War comes through again!  Reworking my Norse-Gael list, I decided I needed 8 more warriors with Dane axes to get me to 24 total. I put in an order last week and 2 days later, they're at my door. With weekly games of SAGA, how could I pass on painting them up right away?  The photos confirm I couldn't. These Gripping Beast figures come with undrilled hands so be prepared to do grunge work before you break out your brush.

A bunch of our local SAGA players are registered for the Grand Melee in Chicago and interest in the game has never been higher. I've been able to get out for weekly games and all the practice is helping me get a handle on running this warband. I'm finding that the more Danish axes I field, the better the Norse-Gael perform. Most importantly, they're fun to run. My favorite tactic is to point the warriors at something and charge into them with "Howling Axes" and "Slaughter."

I'm still working on my linen banners for the warband.  I was a bit disappointed with my first attempts so I reached out to the banner expert, Michael of the Dalauppror blog. His lovely banners are the reason I wanted to try this. I'm going to incorporate his suggestions and see if I can paint something worth keeping.  Fingers crossed and thanks Michael for your help!   

Death and Axes

The Footsore Miniatures I got in the mail last week were so lovely I had to paint them right up. It's very rewarding to take figures off the painting table and into a game. Footsore mixes well with Gripping Beast, and this crew adds plenty of characters to my Norse-Gael warband. I really like the new warlord and the fellow sporting a head for a trophy is perfect for the Norse Gael personal challenges.  The bannerman lacks a banner as I'm waiting on some linen to paint one up. This will be my first attempt at it so, wish me luck!  

The barefoot madmen below get me to 16 warriors with Dane axes. The SAGA Grand Melee has a "what you see is what you get" rule. I just realized I need another 8 of these for the tournament. D'oh! Time for another order and some more SAGA painting.

If you're thinking of painting up Dark Age Irish or Norse-Gael, do take a look at Footsore. I understand sculptor Bill Thornhill will be at Adepticon in March. Perhaps he'll be running his Irish warband at the Grand Melee?  If you haven't seen Bill's Irish warband, click over for a look as they're damned lovely.

Norse Gaels warlord & wrapup

It's the finish line for another SAGA warband.  I turned the warlord that comes with the Norse Gaels pack into a bannerman. With both hands tucked behind a shield, he'd have made a non too threatening warlord. The lovely banner is by LBMS.

Last of the Norse Gaels hearthguard.  I've looked but cannot find the name of the loincloth-like protective kit these fellows are wearing.  I assume it's a Dark Ages protective cup?

While the Norse Gaels are an older line of Gripping Beast figs, the rough spots in some of them were surpassed by their character and energy.  Now I need to get these fellows out for a "test drive."

I've put my 15mm Later Hungarian army up for sale at the top of my blog. The poor fellows have not seen the light of day so off they'll go. No worries, I've got loads of unpainted lead coming in the mail to me right now. The seller told me one of my boxes weighs 19 lbs so I think it's safe to say I'm on my way to building a lead mountain!     

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.    

Howling Axes! Norse Gael axemen

The Norse were first recorded in Ireland in 795 when they sacked Lambay Island. Raids continued until 832, after which they began to build fortified settlements throughout the country.  The Norse–Gaels originated in settlements when the Norse intermarried with the native Gaels in Ireland and Scotland.  They founded the Kingdoms of Man, Argyll, Dublin, and Galloway. To this day, the Hebrides are known in Scottish Gaelic as Innse Gall, the islands of "foreigners." The Norse–Gaels dominated the region until the Norman invasion.

Gripping Beast did a splendid job of capturing the spirit of mad Viking-Irish warriors.  The warband contains a shocking number of barefoot fellows.  What they lack in fashionable footwear is made up for by the Dane axe. These barefoot axeman have a wicked look about them.  Slopping around without shoes might turn anyone into an axe-wielding maniac.  

First up are 8 warriors, followed by 4 hearthguard. Take a look at the warrior in red below. His hair is plaited and each plait is secured by a small golden ball. I knew I'd seen this look before and sure enough, Ian Heath's "Armies of the Dark Ages" has an illustration that appears to be the inspiration for this figure.   

This winter has been a brutal one, even for Minnesota.  We're going to get popped by another round of the Polar Vortex with temperatures dropping below -25 tomorrow.  Gray skies and icy cold temps are fueling a bad case of cabin fever.  It's a good thing I don't own an axe or I just might chop through a door, pop my head through and yell out "Heeeere's Mooonty!" Thank goodness for the painting table as it does keep me sane.   Stay warm and sane, where-ever you are!

Where's my SAGA warband?  WHERE??

Getting the band together - Norse Gael

For Christmas, Mrs. Gamer gave me a Gripping Beast Norse-Gael warband. For readers not interested in the Dark Ages, you're probably muttering "Dear lord, make him stop!"  Short of divine intervention,  I can't stop my Dark Ages painting quite yet but I'll change things up by sharing how I put this warband together.

These 2 pics should be last in today's post but with blogging, I'm compelled to lead with my best. I start a warband by painting levy figures first and working my way up the socioeconomic ladder. These 12 javelinmen are Norse-Gael levy. As such, they're poor, plain and expendable.   I'll go into who the Norse-Gael were later in this series. For now, you might be asking how did I get here? Let's rewind to the start. 

The Way of the Gun:  I'm positively stuck on basing my 28mm figures with a glue gun.  It's fast, easy and reversible should you decide to rebase. The blob of glue also gives a nice transition that reduces the "pitcher's mound" effect.  

Chop It Down:  The figures below are the javelinmen.  To distinguish them from the spearmen, I took the Gripping Beast spears and clipped them at both ends. I cut the spears down to less than the height of the figures to better represent a javelin. Then I cut the enormous spearpoints down by 50% as well. 

Drill, Baby, Drill: Gripping Beast cast their axe-wielding figures without holes in their hands. Bad Beasty! Don't they know that drilling 24 hands out with a pin drill is brutally slow and painstaking work? With my Dremel and attachment, I got through this quickly and without swears!

What Can Brown do for You?  I prime my Dark Age figures white, topped with a burnt umber ink wash. The ink is cut with water and a bit of glue to make it colorfast during the paint and wash stage.  You can use matte medium for this as well and Gillies of the Wilderness of Mirrors blog has a recipe for an ink bath. Gillies turned me onto the wonders of ink and I've been hooked  since. I apply the ink wash everywhere but the shield front.  Those need to stay white for the LMBS shield transfers. One benefit of an inked figure is it helps you see the detail.  If you paint neatly and keep the ink in the borders, you get an effect similar to blacklining.  

So, that's how I put these mad Viking-Irish fellows together. 

I'm putting some of my 15mm Field of Glory armies up for sale.  The Ancient Spanish are up on the block today and after I get a good set of pictures, the Medieval Hungarian Army will follow. The link to the Spanish is tucked below the banner if you're interested.  Thanks for looking!