Norman Warlord and his Retinue

More, more, more Saga!  I had 9 Gripping Beast Norman Milites left from the big Norman lot I acquired in December, so I figured I'd paint them up. As they are the last of my mounted Normans, I took extra care in painting them up.  I didn't use the AP dip/brush this time, instead opting for an Agrax Earthshade wash.

No painting pegstands with this lot.  I glued them straight on their horses and painted away.  I was going to base the  warlord and his bannerman together but that fizzled when I discovered only one horse and rider fit neatly on a 50mm warlord base.  In the alternate, I'll  keep the warlord and his faithful bannerman a matching pair on the tabletop.

While painting shields on the last two batches of Normans was good practice, I had LBMS shield transfers sitting unused.  So, shields and banner by the always superb LBMS.

I worked the shield colors into the helmets for some of these lads.  That kind of color coordination is probably fantasy but pleasing to the eye.  I also took care in picking up the shield tranfer colors and blending them into the shield rims.  The result is seamless enough that a couple of my friends thought these were scratch-painted!  I should have said, "why of course..." and let them marvel!

I've got a game of Saga on the books for this weekend.  I hope to post up an AAR next week.  All painting and no play makes Monty a dull boy.

Welsh warriors & backstory

With every new project, I like to read up on the armies and era I'm painting.  Saga has given me the perfect opportunity to dig into the Dark Ages, where my knowledge is a bit thin. Admitting that up front, here's a quick overview of the Dark Age Welsh.

A Welsh army was generally made up of lords, retainers and locally raised free men over the age of 14.  Welsh warriors dressed in linen shirts and pants, covered by a wool cloak down to the knees. Hair was kept short and mustaches were common.  Their primary weapons were the spear, axe and bow.  Spearmen could operate in close or loose order as the situation demanded. Javelins were common and a circular shield was often employed. Welsh bows were made of elm and fired at close range as an ambush weapon.  The Welsh longbow would not make an appearance for some hundreds of years.

The Welsh tended to rely on agility and cunning rather than armor.  They relied on ambushes and raids, utilizing the rough and hilly terrain covering much of Wales.  Battle was preferred on marshy or broken ground, which favored the Welsh's mobility.  Their initial charge was a headlong assault accompanied by a storm of javelins.  This might be followed by feigned flight to lead an enemy into a trap, a common tactic for lightly armed and agile troops. Spirits were raised with battle cries and war trumpets. The initial charge was fierce but if it did not break the enemy, the warriors often lost heart.

Based purely on looks, there's slim chance these fine fellows will lose heart on the tabletop battlefield.  Gripping Beast did a fine job with the sculpts.  Short hair, mustaches, woolen cloaks, spears, axes, bows and circular shields.  Check, check, check and check.  Nicely done!  

Over the weekend, I grabbed 3 lines of triad paints by Reaper Miniatures.  They just might be the paints I'm looking for.  Big plus that they come in dropper bottles!  After I get a chance to put them to use, I'll post up on how they compare to Vallejo.

And if that isn't enough to bring you back, it's on to the adorable Welsh ponies and riders.  I'm very pleased to say that Gripping Beast did an outstanding job casting the Welsh horse. Short, stout and almost cuddly!

Coming soon to a Saga event near you

Viking Berserkers, long hafts and all

When I popped these Gripping Beast  Berserkers out of the box, I noticed the axe hafts were very long, with one axe being taller than the figure.  It didn't look right to my eyes so I considered clipping the hafts down.

Fortunately, I didn't do that because the Bayeux tapestry clearly shows axe hafts nearly as long as the axemen.  Plus, there's a theory that a longer haft was reflected social status or ranking.  It will surprise no one that men have been worrying who's longer since at least the Dark Ages!

"A guy on the internet says I can make this longer."

Hurstwic is a wonderful website loaded with background information on all things Viking, including the use of axes in battle.  As it turns out, a long axe was useful for:

• hooking an opponent's ankle, throwing him off balance.
• hooking the shoulder or neck to pull an opponent out of position.
• hooking the edge of a shield, pulling it away from the defender.

The haft can be used to parry and strike, much like a fighting staff. The video HERE shows how an axe-armed Viking might have fought and defeated his sword & shield armed foe.  It's fascinating to watch and once again, shows my imagination is limited by my modern experiences. And here is a YouTube video of a History channel demo of the Danish axe worth a watch as well!

I tried to share my new-found knowledge with my family at the dinner table.  When I asked if anyone knew how to use a two-handed axe, my son replied "With two hands?"   That was pretty much the end of Professor dad's history lecture for the evening.

These Gripping Beasties come with LOADS of character.  I bent the arms on the fellow in the grey wolf cloak so he could wield a 2-handed axe like his mates.  I spent extra time making these shine since they are the killer unit in any Viking warband.  Throwing 4 dice per figure (rather than 2) in melee makes you belle of the ball in a Dark Ages mashup.

I'm loving the Foundry skin triads and mulling over investing in a full set of Foundry paints.  Their system takes the guesswork out of color jumps for 2-tone and triad painting.  I just have to figure out the paint pot versus dropper bottle angle. And the price. It always comes down to money, doesn't it?

Next week, it's back to the Welsh with a post-up of the warriors.  If you look closely,you'll find the Welsh warriors in this picture.  Waaay, way in the back. Farther.  Keep looking...yea, those guys!