Age of Sigurd

A quick retreat to the Age of SAGA this week, in advance of a match next week. Time for a change of pace from 40k for a little, a felt, and indeed GW products. Also because who doesn't like Vikings?

Err, medieval monks? Anglosaxons? Probably quite a long list, actually.

Are they Geats? Jutes? Danes? Who knows? One of the buggers has a horned helm, so we're clearly not too worried about historical accuracy. I started off thinking I'd go for a very drab look, with olive camo green and pale linen. The red was a late addition, because they needed a bit of flare after all.

The models are a mix of my bastardised Marauder vikings (Viking Huscarls and Bondi from Hammer of the Gods) and the Dark Age Warriors (courtesy of Stylus's bits box and Gripping Beast). Of the two, the Gripping Beast ones are sharper and better detailed, particularly the heads and bodies. Their weapons are on the heroic side of the scale, but that's to the good.

The Hammer of the Gods ones may be more realistic, but look puny as well as being a bit flimsy. The Hammer of the Gods set wins out on shields, though, which have nicely detailed rims, and variety of heads, which may not have the detail but have a great selection. So it's a good pair of cheap sets to blend.

The Gripping Beast guys wear crosses round their necks. Great for Saxons, not so much for (most) vikings, but too tiny to consider chopping about. So I tried to paint them as Thor Hammers by keeping the top in a different colour.

There are four rough units. The first, the Sword and Board Horde, are a block of nine warriors who could also fill in as Huscarls.

Archers don't really belong in the all-melee SAGA viking army, but I'd glued them together before I knew that. Hammer of the Gods gives you a lot of bows, anyway, and I'd never used them for WFB conversions, so I thought I'd take the chance now.

Next are the Beserkers, who have axes, slightly less armour and mouth froth. They're a classic glass hammer in SAGA, hitting incredibly hard but usually at a cost of all of them. I don't think I'd take more than four.

Finally a set of twelve spearmen, again able to double as warriors or the more elite Huscarls. Or even the shoddy levy, I suppose - they come in blocks of twelve and I haven't tried them out yet. Now I can!

Painting Guide:

• Undercoat - Chaos Black
• Flesh - Ratskin Flesh, Reikland Shade, Dwarf Flesh and Kislev Flesh highlights
• Greens - Deathworld Camo, Agrax, Camo Green and Underhive Ash
• Duns - Zamesi Desert, Agrax, Kommando Khaki layer, Ushabti Bone highlights
• Reds - Rhinox Hide, Scab Red, Wazdakka Red layer
• Shield Rims - Pallid Wychflesh, Nuln Oil, Leadbelcher nails
• Wood - Steel Legion Drab with Tyrant Skull highlights
• Eyes - experimenting with a different method to my usual, by doing two dots of White Scar on either side of the eyeball instead of trying to put a black dot in the middle. Mixed success - I got better as I practised, but the first few were pretty awful. I'd use it again, I think, it's easier to avoid doing fried eggs. 
• Mail and Swords - Leadbelcher, Nuln Oil, Runefang highlights
• Crosses and Fancy Armour - Balthazar Gold, Runelord Brass highlight for the crossbar.

I've updated their warlord's base a little, giving her a bit more flock and my standard black rim. But she's looking a bit out of place, really. Partly that her brown and yellow colours don't match the unit as well, but also because she's not the finest model in the box. Not to worry, there's an alternative on the way...