Jomsvikings warband, Pt 1

The Jomsvikings were a possibly fictional company of Viking mercenaries who'd fight for anyone who paid their substantial fee. The Joms were highly selective in deciding whom to admit to their order. Membership was restricted to men who proved themselves with a feat of strength, often taking the form of a duel. Once admitted, the Joms required adherence to a strict code of conduct to instill military discipline. Any violation of these rules could be punished with expulsion from the order. 

Members were bound to defend their brothers, and avenge their deaths if necessary.  Jomsvikings were forbidden to show fear or to flee in the face of an enemy of equal or inferior strength, though orderly retreat in the face of outnumbering forces appears to have been acceptable. Spoils of battle were equally distributed. No Jomsviking was permitted to be absent from their stronghold, Jomsborg, for more than 3 days without the permission of the brotherhood. No women or children were allowed within the fortress walls, and none were to be taken captive.  No women?  No wonder this mercenary order disappeared!  

While their existence is a matter of debate,  I became convinced they were real once I received a batch of them to paint on commission.  I'll leave it to our Swedish bloggers and experts to offer an proper opinion.

First up are 8 hearthguard with Dane axes.  These Crusader figs mix well with the Gripping Beast figs that'll make up the rest of this warband. In Saga, they'll get a +1 bonus to their attack roles due to the Dane axe but they'll suffer a -1 penalty to their armor values due to the lack of a shield. In Saga, these fellows will be stone cold killers.

Danish lumberjacks

Knock, knock!  

The helmets are done in Vallejo gunmetal and washed with P3 armor wash.  Chainmail is done with a black undercoat drybrushed with Vallejo gunmetal.  The chainmail got a wash and then a very light drybrush of a brighter silver for the highlights.

It's good to be back painting 28mm for Saga.  The thing I'm loving about the Joms is that you can come at them with a brighter palette than an ordinary Viking warband. So, look for more high fashion and color in this fabulous Dark Ages warband!

Commanders, camp & the whole Gallic army

At the finish line, I realized I didn't have any naked Gallic commanders so I put in an order for Xyston Gaesati.  The Xyston figs are a touch bigger than the Old Glorys but they seem to mix well enough. I love painting Xyston and considered doing this army with their figs, but .75 a figure is spendy for a large 15mm army.  If I were to paint Gauls again, I'd use the Blue Moon line.

Now, about the fellows with clothes.  Other than Lady Godiva, horseback riding and nudity don't mix well. It's also possible that the fellows with pants suffer from a condition known as "never-nude."  Lastly, the historical accounts of Galatians fighting naked says "all but the tribal leaders generally fought naked." There you have the truth of it.  Even in 250BC, management preached from the "Do as I say, not as I do" gospel. Some things haven't changed in 2,000 years!

The Gallic camp is composed of an Essex cart, Old Glory civilians, a Splintered Light dog and a Xyston Gaul.  It was a full-on sweep of my shrinking ancients pile.  

I can't wait to bring the Gauls down to The Source for a game.  I don't expect to win but I do hope there'll be a good amount of walk-up traffic and comments.  When I'm losing badly, those visits can be the best part of a game. To put it another way, my friend Klay once said, "Monty loses a lot but his armies always look great running away!"    

Saturday is the local ReCon in Coon Rapids.  I plan on going early and staying late for a full day of gaming. Last time I went, a fellow introduced himself by saying, "Aren't you the guy who keeps the Twin Cities Gamer blog?"  I almost fell over from surprise to meet someone reading my blog AND recognizing me from my avatar. If you're a local reader and you're going to be at ReCon, look for me at the Saga tables. And game on!  

128 Gauls streak across the finish line!

With a bit of fortitude, I managed to push an additional 32 bases of heavy foot warriors across the finish line for my Gallic army. Multicolored pants and shirts didn't hold me back but the 2-tone shields with 2 - 4 squiggles each were quite trying. It was more work than pleasure to finish this bunch.  As Vercingetorix is my witness, this is the last time I paint Gauls in 15mm!

While I can run these fellows as any Gallic tribe in Field of Glory, they're especially suited to be Galatians. I'll let Philip Matyszak explain why from his great book, Mithridates the Great:

“It appears that the Galatians still fought in the traditional Gallic style. Though skilled metalworkers, all but the tribal leaders generally fought naked.  The Gauls made excellent shock troops, as it took experienced opponents to stand firm against headlong charge by hundreds of large sword wielding warriors who were nothing but spiky line hairstyles and ferocious expressions. The bad news was that the Galatians had only a rudimentary grasp of military discipline and tended to regard setbacks as an invitation to go home.”

The bonus in running them as Galatians in Field of Glory is that they're all rated as superior heavy foot. This plus their impact bonus I'll have a fighting chance IF I can win on impact.  That's really all I'm looking for in a game. I'm a sucker for the "Lost Causes" of history.  As I told my friend Mark last week, when I run Gauls, it is indeed a lost cause.

Here's all 48 bases of heavy foot ranked up. I kept the palette a bit tight by repeating color combos. I think it achieved an irregular look without being hard on the eyes. Front or back, they provide an interesting view! While they were a trial to paint, I'm happy with the look of them all massed up.

Once I finish the Gallic camp and 4 command stands, the Gallic/Galatian army is done! And then, finally, back to Saga.