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Sunday, May 12, 2013

Rally 'round the Raven - Saga AAR

Hugh and I got to set up a Viking vs. Welsh smackdown.  The Viking way in Saga is to go for the jugular whereas the Welsh are shooty, hit-and-run bunch.

I knew I'd have difficulty in this match-up so I decided to try out a new tactic.  In the Raven's Shadow supplement, Saga introduced "Rally Round the Banner."  You can add a War Banner to any one unit.  The banner allows the unit to rest other than the first activation and remove a fatigue.  It's a double-edged sword.   You'll need to use an activation ability or die for the rest.  Activating multiple times in a turn means that unit will use up your Saga dice and find itself alone in the face of the enemy. Also, the banner figure does not generate attack dice.

My Viking warband was Warlord plus 1 unit Hearthguard -12 figs with a War Banner, 3 units of Warriors with 8 figs each.  The risk is that the first time Hugh kills a unit, I'll be down a Saga dice.  It's a quick strike force with a Mike Tyson punch in the form of the hearthguard with the banner.  If my right hook doesn't drop the Welsh quickly, I'll die in a hail of javelins.  Hugh's Welsh warband was Warlord plus 1 unit of Levy -12 figures, 1 unit of Hearthguard-8 figs each, 3 units of Warriors-8 figs each.

GAME 1:  "Clash of Warlords." I won terrain initiative and dropped a hill in the middle of the board. Hugh tried but couldn't get his 2 woods on the table and that spelled trouble for the Welsh.  I've never played a game of Saga with so little terrain.  Could the hand of Odin have been at work?
My warriors screened the hearthguard from javelin fire.  The Welsh javelins were deadly in the early game and I could see I wouldn't have the luxury of waiting for everyone to line up "just so" before going in.
Hugh was forming the dreaded fishhook formation and he intended to bait his hook with my Vikings!
I split my Saga dice between activating the hearthguard 3 times (plus a free activation with "We Obey") and the abilities Thor (melee 2x in a turn) and Ulllr (reroll attack dice that miss).  With this combo, my hearthguard wiped out a unit of Welsh warriors, rested, and in the next activation, wiped out a unit of Welsh hearthguard.
My 6 surviving hearthguard descended on the Welsh warlord.  6 on 1 is not a fair fight and the brave Welsh warlord went down fighting.  A quick victory to the Vikings...skol, Vikings!
GAME 2:  "Clash of Warlords" again with the same warbands.  This time, Odin was off cavorting and the Welsh dropped 2 woods in the middle of the table.  I asked Hugh if he was creating a Dark Age Agincourt. All we needed was a muddy field in the center and a charge.  Being the Vikings, I had no choice but to go up the gut and deliver.
Hugh's dicing was better in this game.  He played "The Rising Out" to activate 4 units to pitch javelins.  My warband was melting in the face of sustained missile fire and I had to go all in with my hearthguard.  I needed to chew through the Welsh hearthguard to open a path to their warlord. When my 12 hearthguard hit Hugh's 8 hearthguard, there was a tremendous crash that ended with his men wiped out and nearly all of mine!  I couldn't deliver the killer punch and was left to look about the battlefield for any chance to pull my coals from the fire!
Desperate, I sent my warlord after his.  I bumbled and pushed his warriors back to within Very Short distance of his warlord.  This allowed his warriors to sacrifice themselves and soak up hits that my warlord delivered on his warlord. My Viking warlord went down in personal combat and the game went to the Welsh.
There is some debate on the Saga forums about the usefulness of "Rally Round the Banner."  After two tries, I'd say it's moderately risky with a moderate opportunity for payout.  If you go for the kill and fail, you've probably lost the game.  Still, I think it's useful tool for the Vikings.

All in all, a great day of gaming and a good showing by the Welsh.

Tuesday, May 7, 2013

Welsh warband finished!

Bang a gong, I'm done!  With the arrival of the LBMS shield transfers, I finally wrapped up this project. Here's a final post up of the crew. Everybody say "Javelins!"
8 Hearthguard and 2 Warlords:



24 Warriors:
24 Levies:

I'd been eyeing the Welsh for my next warband when my friend Hugh asked if I'd paint his on commission.    With unpaid work days coming down the pike, I'm looking to take on a few commissions.  Instead of moping around the house on my unpaid days, I'll do what I love most and paint!

Advert Alert. If you're interested in a Saga warband and looking for a painter, I could be your man. Ring me up in email (in my profile) and you'll find I offer a bit more for a bit less than the standard 28mm rate.  I can do the same in 15mm as well.

Saturday, May 4, 2013

Welsh Pony & their warrior riders

In Saga, these mounted Welsh warriors will ride into javelin range, throw, and ride away.  Hit and run horse will be very annoying for anyone facing them, I'm sure.  It will be extra annoying for warbands that don't have mounted  forces.
The Gripping Beast Welsh ponies are adorable.  I liked them enough that I read up on the breed.  The Welsh Mountain Pony predates the arrival of the Romans. They were a hardy breed on account of the harsh climate, limited shelter and sparse food. The ponies are able to thrive on minimal forage. The breed has a small head with large eyes, sloped shoulders, short back and strong hindquarters.  They're known for stamina, soundness, and intelligence.  Other horse breeds might mock the Mountain Pony for their appearance but for the fact that the Welsh are their intellectual superior.

Welsh mounted warriors with shield transfers by LBMS.  You may notice, the Welsh do love their capes!


And if that isn't enough horseflesh for you, how about the Welsh hearthguard?



One last morsel of Welsh eye candy!  Neigh, neigh, neigh, neigh!
Pony is a member of MENSA, the rider is not

Sunday, April 28, 2013

Inking the wee 15mms

Last week, I wanted to see if I could get a nice shadow effect by painting neatly on an ink wash on white primer.  I usually block paint, acrylic wash and highlight but this time, I'd start with neat painting on the inked figure, cutting out the acrylic wash, leaving the ink to give the shadows.  I quickly realized this was not a time save but I could see the detail better than painting a figure primed white or black.  So THATS why some of you prime black and drybrush with gray before you start!
The result is a decent and darker look but not a time saver.  At 3 feet, I can't distinguish these from block, washed and highlighted figures. If I keep this, it'll probably be to highlight the detail only for painting.
Ancient Spanish light horse finished with the block, wash and highlight method.
I got a good jump on the 96 Dailami foot this week. All that's left is 96 scratch-painted shields.  Yea, all that's left is the hardest part!
I've got Dailami archers and ellies in the pan!  I'm excited about doing Arabesque ellies.

Monday, April 22, 2013

Bottom's up! Naked Gauls and a burst of 15mm madness...

With my Welsh warband sidelined by a lost parcel of shield transfers, I jumped back into 15mm with both of my size 11 1/2 feet.  First up, 96 Naked Gauls. I've paint 2 Gallic armies in the last 2 years. Each army was a bit of a trial or chore, depending on how fondly I remember it  Under Field of Glory v2, Gauls are slightly less rubbish than before so I thought, three times a charm?  The question I sought to answer in painting this bunch was, can I gut my way through painting Gauls a 3rd time? The lead photo is a bit of a spoiler!
Before every charge, the Gauls were heard to scream "PANTS!"
Gaesati warriors will be the core of my Gallic army v3.  Gaesati are rated as Superior, Impact heavy foot, and naked as the day they were born. Nakedness does not provide a combat bonus but it is a +10 bonus on the painting table.  These fellows started with Army Painter's Barbarian Flesh primer.  2 coats of GW flesh wash later, the actual painting started with flesh highlighs.  The time saved by their nakedness was quickly lost in the shield stage.  There isn't much room to work with on these shields.  Still, it went down well and I'll order up the rest of the army from Old Glory.  I might grab my 12 stands of chariots from Splintered Light as they are spectacular to paint and look at.

I also finished up the Russian SYW cannons. We're firing up another Maurice campaign in the weeks ahead and one of our Field of Glory regulars has left the ancient world to join us in the 17th century.  Klay, I hope these cannons give good service in support of your new cause!  The best thing about painting these Old Glory figures was, no shields!  2nd best thing was they're all wearing trousers.

I sold my 15mm Carthaginian army last week and in the process, created a few holes in my ancient Spanish army. To fix one of them, I  just finished up these Old Glory Spanish light horse.  I clipped the plumes off their heads so they'd fit in better with my Xyston Spanish light horse.  These lads are poor and rough, so I went for a loose painting style.  I did sneak in some bright colors to keep them from disappearing off the tabletop!
I sold off the slingers I was using in my ancient Spanish list so here's a few more in a bit of an experiment. I'm going to see what I can do with inking in 15mm.  If I paint neatly, I should be able to use the ink for shadows.
Lastly, 96 Dailami warriors in the paint pan in case the Welsh shield transfers don't make an appearance. So, enough about me.  How was your weekend?

Thursday, April 18, 2013

Welsh warlord and hearthguard

I drove to The Source on Sunday to get in a game of Saga.  Freezing rain made for treacherous driving, so my buddy Hugh had to turn around. Just like that, game off.  The silver lining in the snow filled cloud was I spend the rest of the day painting.  It was either that or axe through a door, poke my head through and yell "Here's Jooohny!"  My family was having none of my cabin fever antics, so, off to the painting table.

This Welsh warband is built with both a foot and mounted warlord.  You can only run one warlord per warband in Saga but by painting up both, you can choose which to run depending on the scenario. Since this batch is the hearthguard and warlords, I put the pedal to the floor for colors and stripes.  We are the 1%. Look upon our clothes and weep, levies and warriors!  

You've probably noticed that I've hit a road bump with the Welsh.  The LBMS shield transfers are still in the mail, probably looping endlessly around the globe.  In the meantime, as I finish each batch of shield-armed Welsh, I have to stop at the white shield stage and move to another bunch.  Posting up nearly finished figures is a bit like a date ending with a kiss at the front door.  Nice, but perhaps not all you'd hoped for.  Sadly, it'll have to do for now!
 
I still haven't got the hang of the work in progress posts.  By keeping my cellphone handy, I remember  to take a picture from time to time.  That's good!  With each batch of figures, my work surface gets messier and that detracts from the pictures.  That's bad!  If you think my painting surface looks messy, you should see my hands.

When in doubt, grab some bark

A few of you have asked if I'm done with 15mm.  To that, I thought I'd show rather than tell!
SYW Russian battery
I hope it's warm and beautiful wherever you are.  Birds singing, flowers blooming, and green grass.  I remember those days; the days before I moved to Winterfell.  Right now, we're getting another 6"! 
Looking out my back door.  

Saturday, April 13, 2013

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.