Back with Byzantines!

This is my Age of Crusades/post-Manzikert disaster Byzantines.  Information on what the Byzantine army looked like at that time is quite thin. Into that space, I created a "down on its luck" appearance where armor is quite rare.  

The force is composed of Fireforge plastic Byzantine Spearmen & Auxiliaries (for the robed bodies), Gripping Beast plastic Arab foot (more robed bodies after I sawed off the left arms), light cavalry and heavy cavalry.  I sourced extra shields and my warlord from Gripping Beast. The shield transfers are from LBMS and Wargametransfers.com.  Lastly, I mixed in Arab heads and torsos to reflect an Arab influence in appearance. I'm quite happy with them at the finish line.  

I assembled these March of 2019 for the UK Saga World Cup. Then I had the bad luck of breaking my foot in 3 places and being misdiagnosed for 3 months. Limping on a broken foot for those months was a disaster. I thought I had a soft tissue injury and tried to gut it out. In the end, I could hardly walk or stand on it, ended my plans for the big show. Disappointed, I sold my unpainted Byzantine warband and then at the start of this summer, I reacquired and painted them.   

Last summer, I also was heartbroken to discover my blog was broken. Most of my posts from 2017 and older lost their links to photos. I've been relinking pictures with my old posts but its a slow,  painstaking task. It was such a mess that I quit my blog.  

I've had a change of heart. I'm going post when I can and continue fixing my old posts.  After a year's break, I'm happy to report I'm alive, well and gaming when I can. So, how was your year?  ;-) 

Saga AoM Great Kingdoms

Saga Age of Magic is taking off in the Twin Cities and I just finished my 1st fantasy warband, the Great Kingdoms. I'll be taking them on the road next weekend to an AoM event in Wausau, Wisconsin. I'm so excited to see what other people paint and play!

They're built off of my Footsore Miniatures Welsh with some crossbowmen converted into firearms. The pegasus-mounted figures are by Fireforge Games. The Stone troll and a war bear are Atlantis Miniatures. The troll is missing from their page so probably being reworked. 2 war bears are by Reaper Miniatures. Norba Miniatures makes the superb bear riders. They're missing from the Norba website and probably being reworked as well.

Fantasy painting was a bit of a trial for me. The bronze on the bears was tricky and how exactly do you paint a Rock Dude? Overall, I'm happy with how the color and bear theme turned out.  Bonus, Great Kingdoms turns out to be a super solid board.  After losing my first game, I haven't lost another game since. Its a bit of a photo dump so hang on, here it goes!

 

Not fantasy but a good pic of this gaming life!

US Grand Melee

4 full days and nights of Saga, and what a great run it was! We had two fellows from Australia, three from the UK, and Alex Buchel from France.  It was great to see old friends and make new ones.

I finished on the top table in Joe's Age of Arthur event, killing Arthur but dying in a mutual warlord eradication exchange.  In the Age of Crusades, I finished on the top table against my buddy Stephen H where my Moors lost to the Pagan Peoples.  In the Age of Vikings, I finished 3rd overall.  On my way home, I thrilled my wife and daughter with countless stories of battles won and lost, and plans for next year!

First up are pics of the doubles warbands.  Then the Doubles itself.  It's such a great event!