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."

Thistle & Rose Gallic Army

A new owner is bringing Thistle & Rose (T & R) 15mm miniatures back on line. I haven't painted 15mm ancients in ages so it was a great opportunity to get back in the saddle by painting a T & R Gallic army for Triumph.  

T& R are true 15s, comparable in size with Corvis Belli.  Not too tall or plump and very detailed. I don't know how they managed such fine detail on 15mm figures.  Some of the shield work was so intricate I used washes and glazes to highlight the handiwork. The "Dying Gaul" figure is a great touch too.  

The T & R FaceBook page is up here.  When they go live, they'll have a deep bench of periods and armies.  In fact, I should have another round of 15mm painting in the Spring with Saxons, Normans and Vikings.  

This project was a good reminder that one can never paint too many Gauls.  I do miss the days of playing ancients with our disbanded ancients group.  One day!