Goths for the Grand Melee

We're closing in on my favorite gaming event of the year, Adepticon's SAGA Grand Melee. Friends, whiskey and 3 days and nights of SAGA. What's not to love? I got 11 games in last year and by Sunday, my brain was quite tired and happy. 

So, how did I end up switching to Goths at the last minute? After 3 months of playing and losing with my Early Saxons, I bailed on them. I just couldn't puzzle out the board. Winning isn't everything but losing all of your games is a letdown. I know because I used to run Gauls in Field of Glory tournaments.  Scrambling for an alternative, I decided my Saxons could pass for Goths. Bonus, I managed to win my first game with them! I rushed a warlord and 12 Footsore Goths through my painting queue. Once again, the Footsore sculpts are superb. I like these fellows so much I'll field all of them in Chicago. 

After the Grand Melee, our local Saga players will transition over to Saga v2. And I'll get started on painting a new Footsore Viking or Norman warband. Life is good!

Early Saxons!

After painting Late Romans and Picts, I decided to paint another "Enemies of Rome" faction for my Saga stable.  Bonus, I can run both sides in a Dux Britanniarum campaign as well!

I planned to take this warband to the Saga US Grand Melee at Adepticon in March.  Unfortunately, I've lost every game I've played with them. The Saxon battle board is composed of small, subtle plays and many of them are conditional.  Winning isn't everything but this has become a bit ridiculous! Looks like its back to the drawing board with 6 weeks to go.

I used a mix of Westwind Productions and Footsore for this warband.  The Footsore figures are stellar as always and the Westwind figures as well.  I liked the variety of headswaps Westwind provided.   It does work well to bring a nice amount of variety to the bunch.  Westwind figures are a bit larger/chunkier than Footsore but still mix well.  Sharp-eyed historians will notice the rugby shirts.  My Saxons have a raid and trade relationship with their Frisian neighbors.  They love to look stylish, what can I say?

The warlord is Penda the Pagan by Gripping Beast and his hearthguard are all Westwind.  

Below was my last drop of Saxons.  I went all in & added more Frisian striped shirts along with levy archers for an Age of Wolves campaign.  The archers and striped shirt warriors are Footsore.  The Saxon "killers" are Gripping Beast and the totem is from Etsy. I can imagine my Saxons yelling out from their storage box "I coulda been a contender!"  To which I'll reply, "Maybe in Dux Britanniarum, maybe in Dux B."

More Picts

Once I start a SAGA warband, I like to paint up all options.  And Picts have lots to choose from!  Reinforcements from the painting table include:

• 12 Footsore crossbowmen who'll run as levy. 
• Fenris Games terrain including a Celtic cross for when I run the Picts as Scots, a Celtic-themed temple floor and rocks with Celtic swirls.  I love Fenris' stuff!  
• Warlord Games Celtic chariot.  I bought this because the Picts can mount their warlord in a chariot and Footsore hasn't yet released their Pict chariot.  I loved the energy of the naked warrior so much I decided to make him a warlord. He looks like he's shouting orders to his troops or getting ready to launch himself into combat.  
• Footsore war hounds.  These huge and wonderful dogs looked so cool I had to paint them up.  

Lastly, here they're parading as Scots for a local event.  My battle board turned out nicely and I hope to build off what I learned here for the US SAGA Grand Melee next March. This wraps up the Picts and now on to the next thing!

Picts Warband

There's an upcoming day of SAGA organized by Eric Hagen.  He puts on the best events including Adepticon's annual US Grand Melee.  If he were to organize a "Rock, Paper Scissors," I'd sign up!  

This event is for Dark Ages warbands only and that left me scrambling.  I'd sold off all my Dark Ages warbands so I decided to paint my Footsore Picts and run them as Scots.  This is another reason I love SAGA.  Few people can paint up all 30 factions but with a little planning, anyone can paint up a warband that can be played as 2, 3 or more other factions.  

Footsore Picts are superb sculpts just as we've come to expect. There is a lot of variety in the figures, faces, and poses. Even with a 48 warrior build, my Picts have a great, massed look.  Bonus, Footsore is expanding their Pict line.  They recently finished war hounds, cavalry, and crossbowmen.  Still to come is a Pict warlord in a chariot!

The naked fellows are the Attecotti and my favorite of the bunch.  Bonus, when you order from Footsore you sometimes get art with your miniatures! If all of this isn't enough to pull you in, you might be interested to hear that Footsore is working on a full line of Vikings and Normans too.

Late Romans

Footsore's Late Roman archers give me another look for my Late Roman warband. Ideally, I'll run them as a 12 pack of warriors with a banner.  With an armor of 3 to shooting and melee, I'll have to hide them away from the enemy.

Looking for any excuse to paint  my Footsore's Attecotti warriors, I decided to use these as mercenary Scouts in my Late Roman warband.  If you're considering an Aetius and Arthur warband, take a look at Picts. Along with the option of putting your warlord in a war chariot, you can upgrade 1 unit of 8 warriors to Attecotti.  If they are the attacker in melee, each figure generates 3 attack dice! They can double move into combat without taking a fatigue and while their nakedness makes them an armor of 3 to shooting and melee, their magical tattoos allow them to re-roll failed defense dice. Honestly, the Footsore figures are so lovely that's reason enough to paint Picts.  You can also use these figures with the Scotti, Scots, Irish and more. Score!

Last up is Sarissa Precision's Roman Villa, available on the Footsore webpage.  I figured I needed a nice mansion for the Governor overseeing my Romans.  This kit goes together with a minimum of fuss and effort.  Once done, I primed it leather brown and then airbrushed it up in a base and highlight color.  Quite a bit of bang for the buck!

Speed painting a Warband

Necessity is the mother of invention, and experimentation too.  I'm attending two SAGA events that allow Dark Age warbands only.  I  sold my Saga collection recently, save for the Late Romans. I scrounged and based up every unpainted Dark Age figure I had left including a box of plastics. The 24 levy and 48 warriors can run as Vikings, Anglo-Danes or Anglo-Saxons. Score!

After talking to local painters, I decided to paint using mostly washes and inks. My test run of 24 levy turned out well enough I kept at it. 

The key is Zenithal priming which is a fancy way of saying "Prime black & dust with white from above."  The washes and inks work off of the primed-in shadows to achieve a nice tabletop standard. Mind you, this was my first time and I was spit-balling.

I picked a Footsore Viking (not yet available) and a resin V&V Miniature for my warlord and warrior Priest. The Viking is a Bill Thornhill sculpt and V&V fig is equally stunning.  Who goes into battle shirtless and without his helmet? THIS GUY! These figures are additional proof of the Golden Age of Gaming we live in.   

I never found a wash or ink I liked for skin so I used Foundry Flesh combo 5A, B, and C.  I applied 2 highlights before washing them down with Citadel's Reikland Fleshshade.  I'm happy with my results. 

Below is the Alternate Ending of the Battle of Stamford Bridge.  Is it just me or is the Viking in green with his arms outstretched one of those guys who photobombs every pic?    

The levy were shoved out of the group photos above so they gathered for their own picture.  They'll be key when I run Anglo-Saxons and perhaps even useful for the Anglo Danes.  My blogging partner Rodge has run Anglo-Saxons for years so I'll check in with his Youtube Saga Thorsday series for advice.