Dark Age Swap Shop

Just after Christmas I was seduced by the North Star sale and ended up with two of their 'grab bags' of minis at a hefty discount. I did quite well from the Artizan Pulp grab bag: while I got a handful of duplicates, I was expecting to and got some great figures. I will split the spoils with Gharak, pretty much all of them are useful for Pulp or WWII games.

I also got a Dark Ages one as I've half fancied a second unit of Bondi to round out Saga force. Needing just 8 minis, a plastic box isn't cost-effective and with the grab bag offering 20 minis for £12, its the same price as an 8-man pack from Gripping Beast. Surely chances are I'd get 8 suitable ones?

Well, no actually. My Bondi are all unarmoured, but I only got the six unarmoured miniatures on the left, as well as some with bows. The rest are armoured. Drat.


Unarmoured on the left, armoured and bows on the right. 

I really would like to get hold of two more unarmoured Viking/Dark Age miniatures. Perhaps one of my readers might have a couple of spares in their bits box? Anyone want to do a swap for a couple of the chaps on the right?

Regardless, the remaining armoured minis are a useful start towards a second Saga force, perhaps Anglo-Danes. But thats a project for another month, for now they will be set aside to concentrate on my other projects.

A swift project switch later...

I seem to have a very short hobby attention san at the moment. I'm hopping around eras like crazy, but doing a good job of clearing things off the painting table. To make space for more minis, of course!

I bought these Flemish Mercenaries from Gripping Beast to join my Saga Vikings, but only half-painted them before moving on to another project. I couldn't resist because they are awesome minis in their mail coats and kite shields (should have collected Normans, really). The chance to play some more Saga at CLWC was a good excuse to dig them out and finish them off.

They also give an interesting tactical option for my Vikings. In Saga, Vikings are play almost entirely aggressively, with very few defensive options on their Battleboard. Which means they hit hard, but take a lot of punishment themselves too. These chaps are very different - tough as old boots but can't load up on abilities. They strike me as useful as a screen or for taking and holding objectives. I'm looking forward to giving them a whirl, especially against those pesky Normans and their crossbows!

And in close order

Shield transfers are LBMS once again, though I paint over them to take the sheen off and bring some of the colours into line. They just need a burst of Dullcote (weather *sigh*) and a few Mininatur tufts to finish them off.

I don't know what's next to paint, but doubtless I'll be back on it soon.

First Salute purchases complete

My hobby time has been patchy this past week, a long week at work has sapped my enthusiasm. Here's hoping I'll get back on course over the bank holiday here in the UK. But I did find time to finish these movement trays last night.

Ok, so these aren't exactly the interesting bits, they should come in useful for Saga and were a bargain price from Warbases.

I've not tufted them as I thought they would be easier to transport and more durable that way. The miniature bases have plenty of tufts anyway.

And how they'll look on the table, filled with angry-looking Vikings ready for some pillaging:

Saga Campaign Day

As promised, a few of the photos I took on Saturday playing Saga in north London. All in all a great day, many thanks to Rich for organising and running it. 

First up, myself with Vikings (left) against organiser Rich's Anglo-Danes. The scenario was homemade and called 'Grab'. Very much a raiding scenario, with the challenge to collect the red counters. The scenario worked really well, in fact I thing Saga works much better with scenario play. After mymembarrasingnfirst round, I've quite a dislike of 'Clash of Warlords', with its focus on warlord-killing. This game was a much closer match, with me narrowly losing from a last-minute smash and grab. 

Game three was Sacred Ground, this hill being one of three objectives to take and hold. The central hill ended up as something of a charnel-house, especially once those ranks of warriors reached my depleted Hearthguard! Learning his lesson from game one, my Warlord made a strategic withdrawal, surrendering the hill. My opponent here was Darren, who fielded a beautifully painted Anglo-Danes force, but was similarly inexperienced at playing Saga. I managed a comfortable victory after taking an early lead and killing his Warlord. 

More Saga

Another snap from Sacred ground - this very crowded wood was the second objective. It was also not crowded for long - Viking Berzerkers charging Hearthguard is a very, very messy business I tell you! Actually, it was a suicidal move and the lack of protective options on the Viking battle board means Berzerkers truly are a glass cannon, to be used carefully. Apologies for my part-painted warriors there too, ran out of time in the week.

Finally, the conclusion of game four and back to Clash of Warlords. A close-fought game between two similar Viking forces. After We'd put each other's retinues to the sword it all came down to single combat between our warlords. With the final turn going to my opponent, he loaded up on the battle board and Aelfgir Eiriksson fell once more. A major defeat, but a very close game, especially after my Bondi routed not only a beefy unit of Hearthguard, but also a full strength unit of Bondi. 8 vs 18 and I came out well on top. Such is the way of Saga!So, two defeats, one minor defeat and one victory. Not the best showing but a good few games under the belt. I learned that facing Normans not only looks scary because of the number of cavalry, but are in my opinion a teensy bit overpowered - the speed of their fight troops means less fatigue and those crossbows are nasty too. They won the day quite comfortably and were crowned as Kings of all England. Curse those the French invaders!
Still, a very enjoyable day out and some great gaming.

Game one: Oops!

'Clash of Warlords' ended abruptly with a charge by 8 Norman Knights led by my opponent's warlord.
I'm going for the careless/stupid Warlord award, clearly.

Saga day in Enfield, London

All well I've been frantically finishing another couple of points for my Saga Warband. No rest for the wicked, eh?

Reason being is I'm going to play some games of Saga at a campaign day tomorrow in Enfield, North London. Details here. It sounds like a good day actually, plenty going on including demos and Gripping Beast guys there showing off Northern Fury. I'll post some photos of my war band in action.

Happily I finished my fifth and sixth points of Vikings. Distressingly though, I spray varnished them with GW purity seal and they misted up a little. Not as badly as last time, but definitely a duff can. I'll have to put a little work into fxing them up again, pretty annoying But not before I've taken the can back!

As a result, I've resolved to move away from GW products. They are very convenient to get hold of but this is the third or four can of spray I've had problems of various sorts with. And with the paint overhaul, im thinking it is time to bite the bullet and start buying vallejo.

Gateful if anyone can recommend a brand of spray undercoats and matt varnish? I hear dullcote is good for the latter...

Saga in action

As I mentioned before, the other weekend I got a gaming weekend with my brother, when we busted out SAGA. We got two games in, both of which were very fun, even though we were both still learning the nuances of the ruleset. I was smug that my warband was pretty much finished, but sadly my brother (who has more hobbies than days in the week), hadn't really got around to applying paint to his Anglo-Danes. This is a new phenomenon - usually it would be the other way around!

I won't do a full battle report - pictures say a thousand words and all that


The Vikings deploy:

Battlelines are prepared:

The Aftermath:

Yes, that's one solitary Viking Hirdman, carrying three Fatigue, facing the opposing Warlord, the remnants of his bodyguard and some Levy in the distance. Not a fine day for my Vikings!

SAGA - Viking Warband in all its Glory

So, the other week I finished these bad-boys off and I thoguht I'd share. Look pretty mean, don't they? A completed four-point starter warband, including a choice of two warlords (a father-son combo, perhaps?), 8 armoured Hirdmen across the front and at the back 4 Berzerkers (left)) and 8 Bondi (right)

Second Saga unit

Just finished these off and am pleased with them - four colourful 'Berserkir' for my Viking warband.
The one with the white shield needs an LBMS shield transfer applying.

Testing LBM transfers

So, I wussed out of dipping my Saga Vikings. But they are still substantially quicker to paint than anything Napoleonic.
These are the first few Bondi, finished with Little Big Man shield transfers. A doddle to apply and came out well, even from just a phone pic.
I'm impressed, though the Saga-specific transfer sets are a bit of a jip - by my maths you get better value from the normal ones buried in the LBM section of Gripping Beast's store.

PhilH

This...is...Saga!

Ok, bad joke. But, like everyone else I've been tempted by Gripping Beast's Saga rules. At first glance they are well-presented, tactically interesting and well-explained. I look forward to testing them out next month.

Luckily, I already has some Wargames Factory plastic Viking sprues and GB metals from a previous aborted project. They made a 4 point warband - result! Though I've already supplemented this with some levy archers for variety.

And my brave Hirdmen need some transport...perhaps a boat?