Victrix Gauls

Saga Age of Hannibal gave me a reason to finally paint naked Gauls in 28mm...bucket list item checked! Seriously, these Victrix plastics are quite lovely.  At the finish line, this warband is 48 warriors, 12 levy archers, and 6 chariots. The LBMS shield transfers make them shine. I couldn't find naked archers so I had to sub in Crusader Miniatures archers in pants. Not being warriors leading a from the front, they're not allowed to be sun clad.  After a year of Age of Hannibal, I can say the Gauls live up to the motto "When in doubt, charge!" 

Republican Romans

These are the first Aventine Miniatures I've ever painted. And I have to ask myself, how is it that I took so long to get on the Aventine Train? They were such a treat to paint that Aventine is now one of my favorite miniature makers. The only thing holding me back from a big spend is they're ruthless about taking down their ranges when they show any mold lines. As a small operation, that means whole ranges are off their site at any time. That's ok. I've got them bookmarked and will swoop in once their Steppe Tribes and Sassanid Persians are back.  

Painted for a Saga campaign but it'd be nice to find a way to use them in a bigger battle. In Saga, I've been running 3-4 points of warriors, 1 point of levy javelin (velites) 1-2 of hearthguard (triarii).  They're another fun board to run with a number of powerful combos.

Victrix Numidians

I finished up my Victrix Numidian warband this weekend.  Like many of my projects, this was not planned.  I got a box of mounted Numidian warriors as part of a trade. After putting them together, I loved the look of them so much I put in an order for a whole warband.  These lads will run under the Saga Age of Hannibal rules.  I've painted Numidians so many times in 15mm.  It was a treat to finally paint them in 28mm.  I'm greatly enjoying painting and playing ancients in this scale! 

The Ellie is from Northstar Miniatures.  I took a Numidian horseman, cut his legs off (sorry!) and used greenstuff to mount him on the elephant's neck.  If you want an Ellie bigger than the Victrix model or one without a Howdah, Northstar is a great alternative. 

Shout out to Little Big Men Stuido shield transfers.  Though pricey, they pop nicely once you paint them in and dull them down with a matte sealer.  I might buy and build the Numidian Shield and Spear infantry to round out this bunch. No project is every quite done, is it?   

Mutatawwi'a for Saga

Mutts are my Groundhog Day project. I keep painting, selling and repainting them. And usually getting a few reps in playing them as well. Looking back, this is my 4th version. This one started with me reacquiring 16 unpainted mounted Saracens I'd traded away to my buddy Brent years ago. They sat in a box until fate saw them boomerang back to me in another trade. I decided to go for a bright, colorful version. Basically, the opposite of the last version I painted a couple of years ago. Almost all Footsore figures with a few Gripping Beast Western Knights used, Gripping Beast Objective Markers and a warlord on a camel by Warlord Games.  

I decided to hand paint the shields and banner using only black, tan and white to pull the warband together. The shields started out looking quite dull and uninspiring so I slapped down highlights, washes and dirt to raise them up a bit. Overall, I'd count it as a success! 

In Saga, Mutts are a wild and wooly bunch. Really a fun lot to play.  I think they'll make a good opponent for the Teutons I've started painting. 

And to close, here are my prior 3 versions of Mutts! 

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?  ;-) 

Saga AoM Great Kingdoms

Saga Age of Magic is taking off in the Twin Cities and I just finished my 1st fantasy warband, the Great Kingdoms. I'll be taking them on the road next weekend to an AoM event in Wausau, Wisconsin. I'm so excited to see what other people paint and play!

They're built off of my Footsore Miniatures Welsh with some crossbowmen converted into firearms. The pegasus-mounted figures are by Fireforge Games. The Stone troll and a war bear are Atlantis Miniatures. The troll is missing from their page so probably being reworked. 2 war bears are by Reaper Miniatures. Norba Miniatures makes the superb bear riders. They're missing from the Norba website and probably being reworked as well.

Fantasy painting was a bit of a trial for me. The bronze on the bears was tricky and how exactly do you paint a Rock Dude? Overall, I'm happy with how the color and bear theme turned out.  Bonus, Great Kingdoms turns out to be a super solid board.  After losing my first game, I haven't lost another game since. Its a bit of a photo dump so hang on, here it goes!

 

Not fantasy but a good pic of this gaming life!

US Grand Melee

4 full days and nights of Saga, and what a great run it was! We had two fellows from Australia, three from the UK, and Alex Buchel from France.  It was great to see old friends and make new ones.

I finished on the top table in Joe's Age of Arthur event, killing Arthur but dying in a mutual warlord eradication exchange.  In the Age of Crusades, I finished on the top table against my buddy Stephen H where my Moors lost to the Pagan Peoples.  In the Age of Vikings, I finished 3rd overall.  On my way home, I thrilled my wife and daughter with countless stories of battles won and lost, and plans for next year!

First up are pics of the doubles warbands.  Then the Doubles itself.  It's such a great event!