Wednesday 27 January 2016

From KeithS - "Can Saxons fight? All day and through the night!" (165 points)

Sorry, been meaning to use that quote from Ivanhoe for weeks!  Up this time are 32 armored Saxon warriors in 28mm, again from Wargames Factory.  And, like their Saxon friends, these ones were a bit of a pain.  However, the detail was a good deal sharper even if the figures were a little too alike for my tastes.  I also did something a little different this past weekend -- I painted ALL the loose gear for these guys and my upcoming batch of 32 unarmored Saxons all at once.  Oi vey!  That took a FULL day and then some to get done. I just now finished the actual figures after three nights of staying up past my bedtime, and that was with a three-day weekend (one day was given to actually playing with previously painted minis so it was acceptable, I think).


Anyhow, here's a group shot.  I armed most with sword and kite shield, though there were not quite enough shields for all of them, even with the unarmored set's gear.  So, a few got a round shield and a few got no shield (two got the dragon standards of which I got something like 8, which is way too many unless there's a parade on).  I did 8 as spearman for Saga purposes (they'll make a fine warrior unit).  Just for fun, I gave one guy a soft cap instead of a helm.  I like little things like that -- nobody will probably notice, but if they did, it would imply a story for the guy.



A closer view of the mass.  They're a good deal less angry looking than the Vikings were. 

For shields, I did a mix of transfers and handpainted (about 60:40 in favor of decals).  The decals work good, though they needed serious trimming to fit the shields since they were not the right size.  However, afterwards I thought they looked TOO good.  Someone here probably can articulate this better, but my somewhat sloppy hand painted ones just seem right, even if the decals do look good.


From the reverse,  Nothing too exciting.  I did mix up their tunics, trousers, etc to give some color interest and reduce the uniformity.  The gold dragon bannerman got a horn.


Here's a group shot of many of the handpainted shields.  I've decided I like my squiggly dragons.  They're fairly easy to do and look decent.


And up on the parapet a closer view of a few of the lads.

All in all a decent batch of Saxons, though I'm guessing Gripping Beast and some of the other brands might be a bit better quality.  Still, good enough for government work and they will certainly work for Saga as they're intended.  Next up are the 32 unarmored Saxons.  Given DC is about to get a monumental blizzard starting Friday, I might have some extra time to devote to painting, provided I don't lose power!


As an aside, I played Jutland with miniatures on Saturday.  My Naval challenge entry will be along very similar lines.  Here's a sneak peak:



Keith - more fine work on the these lads , staying up past badtime - good lad...  the mix of sheilds looks just fine - i have rounded up to 165 for the effort. Defintly not as angry the Vikings , but they look efficient and effective - we will see eh when faced by those nasty Norsemen. Big battle with ships just the ticket - lots of shouting "You sank my battleship!"

18 comments:

  1. Top entry. Always have an issue with Wargames Factory stuff, and I've painted loads this challenge. And I hate transfers, my fingers are too fat to handle them

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  2. Firstly let me say how wonderful to see Saxons with Kite shields.

    The colours are very gratifying there is not one there I could not dye using 10th century knowledge and techniques.

    A top job on these it seems you know the period.

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  3. What a great submission

    Ian

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  4. Excellent work, I the Viking verion of these fellows so I know what a pain they can be to work with. Yours look better than mine a great entry (nice to see you have Clints historic dye aproval too).

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  5. Great work Keith. I love the shields and I know what you mean in hand painted ones, even if I can't articulate it any better! I have fond Jutland memories, my first Wargame.

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  6. really nice job on these, especially as some of the wargames factory poses can be a little "standing in a line, waiting for a bus" rather than "rampaging over medieval lands".

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  7. Great looking bunch. I quite like the squiggle dragon.

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  8. Those shields are just brilliant and the figures look great posed in front of the castle. Well done!

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  9. Thanks, all! I am glad to have survived working my 100 Dark Age figures. Time to do some other stuff!

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  10. Nice! Those shields are very good (though I don't think anything can look 'too good' but that's just my opinion). I wonder at what point the Saxons got less angry than the Vikings. Was it when they realized they no longer had to freeze their butts off raiding in boats? Maybe better beer. I dunno.

    What rules were you using for Jutland (or was it the old AH game 'Jutland')?

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  11. Warmth and beer are wonderful things, though not in one mug.

    Jutland was with the classic Avalon Hill rules. The bases for the ships are the same size and markings as the counters, otherwise everything is the same (I bought a pdf of the game a few years back and made everything myself). My nautical challenge entry will be a new set of ships representing the German High Seas Fleet and the American Atlantic Fleet from 1914, a what-if War Plan Black scenario where WW1 did not happen but the Germans decided to grab some colonies in the Western Hemisphere, and are opposed by the U.S. I decided to do an entirely new set of German ships so I can keep my Jutland and War Plan Black games totally separate and not require cannibalization.

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  12. Nice work, Keith! Wargames factory and other cheap ranges may have horrible figures, but they do bulk up a force well! ;)
    Very nice work on them, I like your painted sheilds better than the decals.

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  13. Very cool Keith. Love the hand painted shields!

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  14. Those shields are fantastic!

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  15. Nice work on them! I agree with you on the Wargames Factory minis. Some poses are frankly weird and eventhough they are multipart most of the arms only really work on one body etc. Plus I've had most spears snap while gaming.

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  16. I like these with the kite shields, especially your painted ones.

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