The Curse of Ivo Taillefer

Ivo Taillefer was a Norman minstrel, juggler and knight who earned immortality at the Battle of Hastings. There he asked William for the honor of first strike against the English.  William agreed and Ivo rode out alone. History says Ivo put on a show, juggling his lance and sword while singing the Song of Roland.  An enraged English warrior stepped forward and challenged Ivo to single combat. History doesn't tell us whether he too was a juggler but I suspect as much.  Ivo slew the challenger and took his head for a trophy.  Needing more heads for his next juggling feat, Ivo charged the enemy by himself.  Anyone who thinks this turned out well, raise your hand.  No-one? Quite right, Ivo was pulled from the saddle and hacked to bits.

Ivo's tentmates greased his scabbard to great effect.

After belatedly discovering Ivo, I decided to paint him as a hero for my Norman warband.  I used Gripping Beast's "William the Bastard" figure with a small modification.  I sawed off William's club-armed hand and pinned a sword hand in its place. After all, history doesn't say anything about a juggled club!

My decision to paint Ivo a bannerman activated the Curse of Ivo.  As I was finishing his figure, I knocked over a bottle of Elmer's glue that knocked Ivo right off the table.  I failed to catch it on its way down and the fall sheared his pinned sword hand clean off. Mildly enraged, I redrilled Ivo's stump, repinning & repainthing his hand.

With Ivo and his bannerman complete, I put them on a 60mm base.  Handling this heavy base was tricky and sure enough, the curse kicked in again while I was applying flocking.  I lost the grip on the base, juggled it for a millisecond and lost it again.  This fall broke off the pinned banner and bent Ivo's mount badly.  Many foul oaths were issued and I had to walk away from the painting table.

When I returned, a  few things were clear. First, I'm no Ivo.  I can't juggle a lance, sword or even a 28mm version of our hero.  Also, the 60mm base was too heavy and awkward for the frequent handling in a skirmish game.  Ivo fought and died alone and it seemed his ghost demanded single basing.  I pried the figures off the big base and rebased them, each alone.

The results are not as pleasing as the big base. Still, I'm hoping single basing puts an end to the Curse of Ivo and my poor attempts at juggling.  So far, I've gone 8 hours without dropping him.  I think that means the curse is lifted!  

Now try that with lead figures.  

US Saga Grand Melee

Adepticon's US SAGA Grand Melee is over and what an event it was! We played in a Great Hall on 20 themed tables with matching terrain. Our hall was decked with banners, shields and a slaughter chart covering an entire wall. We had loads of Gripping Beast and Kraken Skulls swag, event T-shirts, SAGA beverage glasses, Viking reenactors and a shieldmaiden too.  Eric Hagen managed the impossible and topped last year's stellar event.

20 teams participated in the Doubles and 38 individuals played in the two day Single events. To a person, everyone I played was a great sport and passionate about the game. My only regret is how quickly the weekend flew by.  Next year, I think I'll take up SAGA after dark.

Doubles was fun tune up for the Singles event.  After a big opening win, Brent and I faced the UK SAGA Grand Melee 1st and 3rd place champs running Irish. My Rus Princes were blockers while Brent's Irish rushed the hoard.  On the last play of the last turn and the last throw of the dice, they knocked us off the hoard. Snatching victory from the jaws of defeat is what champions do. So close, we could've earned bragging rights for at least a week. A wonderful couple and how lucky are they, traveling and playing SAGA together?  I really have to have a talk with my wife. 

I opened the Singles event with 2 crushing victories and Swiss Pairing promptly punished me with Andy again! His Irish featured Brian Boru & Ulf the Quarrelsome. Ulf was made for the Challenge scenario we played. While my warlord got smacked around by Ulf, his Irish camped in forest and rocky ground, winning the game on might points.  I enjoyed the opportunity to play and lose to Andy a second time. And I did get him to laugh which I count as a win of sorts.

Stephen the Viking rolled into the Great Hall with a Viking crew.  Stephen has raised my SAGA IQ in our email discussions about builds and strategies.  I couldn't believe my luck when I drew him for my last game. We laughed, shook hands and threw dice.  His Franks have the most difficult battleboard in the game and I was curious to see them run. Unfortunately, he couldn't throw a shield (a common die) for his battleboard and his combat dice left him entirely. I sent my Druzhina in; charge, melee, rally to the banner, repeat.  It was not clever or subtle but it was enough to steal the game.

I had to leave right after the game to start a 6 hour drive back to the Cities.  Thoroughly exhausted, I wanted as much  daylight driving as I could get.  Shortly after I left, I got a text saying I won Best Sportsman. I earned the moniker "Mr. 11 Minutes" because that's how much I missed the closing ceremonies by.  D'Oh!  My helpful friends Photoshop-ed me back into the event.  Lesson learned, I'll better sort this out next year.  

Rus Princes for SAGA

I painted Mutataww'ia for the US SAGA Grand Melee but the Princes got my attention during my practice games. That plus the Druzhina models I had under way were so lovely I moved them to the front of the queue. The late switch meant practice and painting were a bit rushed but I'm ready for the big show with days to spare! All Gripping Beast figures from their Rus Princes and Alexander Nevsky lines.

Druzhina:  Druzhina make the Rus Princes warband sing, so much so that it's not uncommon to see all Druzhina warbands.  The Princes of Winter ability raises their armor from a 4 to 6 against shooting and Parting Blow lets them shoot once a turn as if armed with bows or javelines-your choice! Druzhina have the same strengths and weaknesses of all mounted troops in SAGA.  They can fly around the battlefield but are weak against shooting (without the Princes of Winter ability) and struggle in terrain.

Levy: These fellows are kitted out nicely for levy. One can only conclude that Kiev had had a very good year.

Warriors:  I buffed my warriors with some Green Stuff fur and a Holy Icon. The snow basing is a mix of PVC glue, white acrylic paint and baking soda (1/3 each).  After spreading the mix  out on the base, I sprinkled baking soda on top where it dried to a dusty finish.  

The Rus religious adviser (in black) is Milites warlord head swapped with a Pagan Rus warrior.  I added a book that looks suspiciously like a bible. 

This was my first crack at painting a paper banner.  I can't freehand so I printed a picture of St. George and painted over it. It was tedious work but effective. I used dark base colors, mid tone and highlights to get the picture to pop.  It's a bit dodgy up close but from 3 feet, it works.  

 

My display board went from desert to winter with some color bits thrown in.  The murder of crows and wolves are Reaper minis and very nice indeed. The casualties are Gripping Beast figs.

I'm out of my head excited about the Grand Melee!  I've seen some of the war bands making the trip and they are stunning. We've got players flying in from both US coasts and the UK too including this year's UK Grand Melee champion.  We'll play in our own SAGA Great hall dressed up with Viking shields, torches and banners.  We'll get cool shirts, gaming swag and the chance to play SAGA over 3 days.  And I'll get to see Stephen the Viking again. I'm so looking forward to making new Sagas!