Dark Ages Wargames Armies

My Dark Ages "armies". Too many of course!

2011-10-19T14:35:00.000-07:00

Some Gripping Beast Saxons: some of the first metal figures I painted, about ten years ago and not up to my current (however low that is) standard

The very first metal 28mm figures I painted were some Gripping Beast Vikings. I also painted some Saxons and both have seen service in my early days at Guildford Wargames Club. I recently discovered half a dozen of these early Saxons (technically, of course, late Saxons!) and they look very poor indeed. I was hoping to touch them up a bit with static grass bases but they need much more than that and there is nothing more tedious than repainting figures!

Dark Ages figures are some of the most time consuming to paint because of their literal lack of uniformity. There are armies which are worse, high medieaval and Celts, for example, but what with random colours and seperate spears and shields it is hard, for me anyway, to do a lot at a time. Added to this, other than Normans and Carolingians, the points value (in WAB at least) of many of the troops means you need large numbers of them. So why do I keep buying them?

Partly the reason came out of a long interest in Vikings due, in large part, to my part Scandinavian heritage; one of my great grandparents came from Malmö. Partly, I was seduced by the splendid displays of beautifully lit Dark Ages figures I saw on the Gripping Beast stand at my first Salute. Mostly, however, it was the appearance of the various WAB supplements: Shieldwall, Age of Arthur, EL Cid, Fall of the West and Byzantium: Beyond the Golden Gate. All of these were full of lovely painted miniatures which I have been unable to resist.

The number of WAB armies I am concurrently painting is a running joke with Mike Lewis (who owns Black Hat Miniatures) at the club and was my main opponent for Dark Ages games. I've decided to list the ones I am working on just to try to sort out where I need to put in some more effort to progress, however, slowly, some more units. Part of my problem stems from the fact that I always want to paint both armies; at least in the Dark Ages.

So, chronologically let's see where we are:

Late Romans

I bought some surprisingly nice figures from Black Tree Designs (their figures are very variable) some years ago and have painted, er, none (although I have started a few). Part of the reason for this was that I was looking for a suitable opponent and didn't fancy Persians. This has now been solved with Musketeer Miniatures lovely new Goths.

Goths

I bought a couple of packs of these from Musketeer when they first came out but have no idea where they are (I take all my figures out of their packs immediately and put them in boxes).

Gripping Beast Romano-British. The first figures I based with static grass. I had to hand paint the shields; no LBM then!

Romano British

The purchase of these was heavily influenced by my reading of the Bernard Cornwell Arthur novels and, of course, Gripping Beast's range is based on these, even including characters from the books. I got these directly from Gripping Beast's shop when they had their brief stint in Richmond upon Thames a few years ago. It was very exciting to be able to actually go into a shop and buy historical figures. Even more exciting was the fact that I had an ex-girlfirend who lived just over the river in St Margarets. Trips to Richmond were doubly fulfilling, therefore. I have also bought some of Artizan's Romano British and am now tempted by the new Musketeer Late/Roman/Romano British/Early Byzantine figures.

Musketeer Early Saxons

Early Saxons

I also bought some of Gripping Beast's Arthurian period Saxons (not very inspiring) but then of course the Musketeer ones arrived and I bought quite a few of these. I have actually painted a whole unit of these and, like all Musketeer figures, they are lovely to paint so it wouldn't take much persuading for me to do some more. Whilst taking some pictures for this post I discovered I had also finished half of this unit of Musketeer Early Saxons, which I had completely forgotten about. I know I have the other half unit somewhere!

Gripping Beast Saxons, painted a long time ago.

Mid Saxons

I read the first couple of Bernard Cornwall's novels set in the period of Alfred so I started picking up a variety of Saxons from a number of manufacturers but none of them were really satisfactory. Surprisingly, the recent Foundry figures are very nice but it's an expensive way to buy a mass army.

A mixture of Gripping Best, Foundry and Artizan Vikings

Vikings

I bought Gripping Beast of course but many of their figures are not really compatible with each other as regards size. I bought some of the Foundry ones, despite them being a bit "fantasy" and also quite a few Artizan ones which go well with the Foundry ones and aren't quite so fantasy-looking. Despite all this I can only field two units of them. Vikings are a useful Dark Ages army, though, because of their multiple opponents (including each other). I have about 75 painted. Incidentally, the medieaval history tutor of one of my ex-girlfriends at Oxford insisted it should be pronounced "Vikkings" with a short "i"!

Carolingians

When these Artizan figure came out I bought quite a few thinking they would make a good opponent for the Vikings. I have only painted a dozen though, although I do like them as figures. The cavalry are lovely but the spearmen just won't rank up as they are waving their spears around at funny angles. I will need to re-base them and maybe try to bend their arms a bit.

Andalusians

I bought and painted eight crossbowmen in a week for a game we were having at the club but then I was ill on the day and they never got used. I'd like to do some more and recently watched El Cid on DVD which led me to buying a pack of four spearman at Colours last month. I actually based them this week so may get them done soon. Very nice figures indeed!

Late Saxons

Fortunately you can use the Middle Saxons for these with the addition of some axe wielding Huscarls and the odd kite shield. The big problem remains the unexciting Saxon ranges around. Still, I have around fifty painted figures.

Irish
I have a few of these Crusader figures somewhere but in WAB you neeed buckets of them as their points value is so low.

Normans

I was never that keen on Normans, as I thought they were a bit stolid and colourless, until my poor Saxons took a pasting at Guildford from someone's Norman milites. I think I bought the first pack of Crusader figures at a big discount at one of the shows prompted by my son doing the Battle of Hastings at school. I finished my first unit this week, have done some archers and some mounted milites. The new Conquest Games plastic mounted figures are very nice and, apparently, foot figures are on the way. These are gradually building into what could be a functional army and they can be used, of course, to bolster El Cid Spanish (except I haven't got any yet).

Turcomen

Guildford were participating in the Society of Ancients games day when they did Dorylaeum. I painted 30 Perry Miniatures Turcomen horse archers as my contribution but never made the game (although my figures did) as I had to fly to Los Angeles on the day. This is my biggest cavalry unit from any period and I am often tempted to use it as the basis of a full army.

Perry peasants

Crusaders

Of course I would then need some Crusaders and I painted a few peasants for the SoA game. I would love to buy some more of the Perry figures but that would mean, essentially, collecting two Norman armies at the smae time. I wouldn't mix the manufacturers as their proportions are so different and I paint the bases different colours. Can't have European muddy bases in the Holy Land!

Crusader Byzantine archers

Byzantines

This was going to be a great project and I even set up a seperate blog for them but I got frustrated with the quality of the figures available; particularly unsatisfactory cataphracts (nothing worse, of course). I painted a few and keep wondering about going back to these. The new Musketeer figures are from a much earlier period but at present they have only done infantry and what are really needed are bow-armed cavalry with lances. Unless these come out I'm not setting off down that route.

Early Gripping Beast Early Saxon (as opposed to the more recent range)

So that's 14 armies (13 if we amalgamate the mid and late Saxons). None of them can yet be fielded as a stand alone wargames army although I have enough Vikings and Saxons to contribute a small force to a bigger game. Of course if I had just stuck to one or even two armies I could have fielded a proper army by now but that would be boring! I'd like to do another unit of Dark Ages figures, having finished the Norman unit recently, but am not sure whether to do more Normans, some Vikings or some Early Saxons. I have quite a lot of based Normans on my workbench at present but think I will put the Norman spearmen away and perhaps do a unit of eight crossbowmen who should be quicker to do as they have no spears and shields. There, I have talked myself into it which is what these blogs are for really, to help me think about what to paint next!

Another Carolingian Knight

2011-09-03T15:50:00.000-07:00

The file box I keep my Normans in also contains my very small collection of painted Carolingians from Artizan. I noticed that I had painted five mounted figures so knew there was another one around somewhere. After a bit of digging around in my "Dark Ages under way" box I found him and finished him off today. Like their successors, the Normans, the Carolingians need a lot of heavy cavalry. Artizan make one more pack of heavy cavalry and I just realised that it is Colours at Newbury next week so maybe I will be able to find it there.

All my Carolingian milites so far

Carolingians had distinctive winged spears so I use the Gripping Beast cast spears, drill a hole in it and insert a cross-piece from thinner brass rod. A bit of a fiddle but worth it, I think. Like all Artizan figures that I have bought they are very nice to paint and so if I find them I will probably put them in the pile of Normans I have underway at present. I think I may have some more infantry somewhere too.

Artwork for The Song of Roland from Look and Learn, 1971

Key opponents for the Carolingians, from my point of view, were Vikings and Spanish Moors although I am not certain of the differences between the uniforms and equipment of the 11th century and the 9th century for the latter armies. When, for example did the helmet with the nasal piece appear in Europe? I first became aware of the Carolingians from a picture series in Look and Learn magazine depicting The Song of Roland. They are an unusual and distinctive Dark Ages army and, like the Normans, I will continue to work away at them.

More Carolingians from Look and Learn

Norman Knights

2011-08-23T12:52:00.000-07:00

Two Crusader Miniatures figures flank a Conquest Games figure

I've just finished a trio of Norman Knights and, enthused, have based up some more infantry and Bishop Odo today.

I never intended building a Norman army; mainly as several other people at the club already have one, but I continue to paint the occasional figure when I want a break from something else. One of the main advantages of them is that they are quick to paint, especially if you are using Crusader Miniatures chunky figures. On the whole I don’t like the increasingly old-fashioned looking squat appearance but in this case it makes the Normans very purposeful looking.

I have painted quite a few Anglo-Saxons (mainly Gripping Beast) and have always fancied doing Hastings and Stamford Bridge but Normans have a lot more uses than that. They are, of course good for the First Crusade and even the Spanish Reconquista as well as actions in Italy.

The problem I have with the Crusades (and I have thirty Perry Turcoman horse archers painted which I did for a Society of Ancients battle day) is that the Perry figures are so nice but really wouldn’t mix with the Crusader ones. So I would feel that I have to buy the Perries crusader cavalry which would be crazy given I am painting virtually identical figures for Hastings (except the bases would be the wrong colour for the Holy Land). So I am in the position where I am contemplating painting two separate Norman type armies. Madness!

One thing which may come to my rescue are the Conquest Games plastic Norman knights. I have just finished my first one of these and have some more on the way. These look much more compatible with the Perry figures I have so I would be able to mix them in much easier with theirs.

Conquest figure with added shield boss

The only fault the Conquest figures have is that, for some reason, they didn’t put a shield boss on the kite shields. This is easily remedied, however, as they include an equal number of round shields which do have bosses. It is straightforward to cut of the boss from a round shield and glue it onto the kite shield as I did for this one. The treatment of chainmail is not at all bad for plastic, given it’s about the hardest thing to do in this medium, and whilst not as crisp as metal figures is quite adequate. I have to say that I enjoyed painting this figure, which is something I rarely say for plastics, although filling the seam where the head and neck of the horse joins the body wasn't easy (and in fact I didn't bother on the first one).

Crusader, Conquest, Crusader

Although the horses are noticeably more slender than the Crusader figures I wouldn’t hesitate about putting them in the same unit. The option to have some round shields will be useful as I vaguely recall reading somewhere that some of the Frankish cavalry in the Crusades (the Provencal contingent?) had round not kite shields. Even if there is no evidence for this it is a good way to differentiate them from the Normans. I might do the same with Bretons at Hastings.

Perilously close to being a unit! Conquest figure in the centre.

So I will definitely be buying some more of these Conquest plastics for use in Britain, the Mediterranean and the Holy Land. Next I hope to have Bishop Odo done. here I have gone for the recent Foundry figure rather than the Crusader one which I will explain next time.

Conquest Games Plastic Normans: 1

2010-11-25T04:54:00.000-08:00

I picked up a box of these at Warfare last weekend. It wasn't really an impluse buy as I have been steadily painting small groups of Crusader Normans for some time. I'm usually not too bothered about the price differential between plastic and metal but for a Norman army, where you need a lot of cavalry, 12 figures for £18 looks pretty good compared with the Crusader cost of £34 for the same number of figures.

I hope to assemble some at the weekend but first thought I would see what is in the box. The box itself is servicable (certainly not up to Immortal standards!) but, not that it really matters, the cover painting is a bit weak. The back of the box shows some painted figures done with the dreaded Army Painter but at least it gives me a target!

Inside there are four sprues of figures (three identical rank and file and one command) plus a sprue of bases.

The bases are 2.5 cm x 5cm for the four singles and 5cm x 5cm for the six doubles (so you get enough bases for 16 mounted figures). One of the double bases would take the casualty figure as well. I use just this size for my bases but never have multiple figure stands (partly because I don't like them and partly because I base my figures first and then paint them - with multi figure stands you need to paint first and then base). I probably won't use the double bases.

Standard Sprue

The standard sprue contains:

Four bodies (without legs). Three in chainmail (two identical) and one unarmoured. All with integral saddles.

Six horse halves. Three left, three right of which there are two of each half with one other; meaning two designs of left and two of right -this would make it possible to build four different horses as each half fits with any other.

Three different horses heads. This gives, then, the opportunity to build 12 different horses, given the four different horses.

Six different helmeted heads. Four with chainmail coifs, one with a cloth coif and one with no coif. So you have choices for the four bodies.

Three kite shields. Two have arms attached. None of them have shield bosses (unlike the Crusader ones)

Three round shields. Two have arms attached. All have shield bosses.

Three right arms holding spears. Two overarm grip, one underarm.

Three right arms holding swords.

One right arm with an open hand.

One left arm. For attaching to a shield.

Command Sprue

This is largely identicl to the standard sprue as regards horses, weapons and shields. However the top section is different and contains:

A one part casting of a fallen knight on a dead horse.

Three bodies. Two identical in quilted armour and one in scale armour.

One head (identical to one on the main sprue).

One right arm holding a lance with a pennon.

One right arm holding a horn.

One right arm holding a club.

One sword.

I have to say that they have really thought about the contents of these sprues. Apart from the fact that you can field twelve different horses you also have the option to field 12 figures in mail as well as having some other non-armoured or different armour options. Also you can give evryone a lance if you wish and everyone either a kite of round shield. Too often you find that there aren't enough components to equip your troops in a uniform way (Warlord Games celts spring to mind). If you are building a big unit you also have enough components to just build rank and file troops as you have enough bodies that you don't need to use the command figure components.

Next time I will assemble a figure, look at the quality and see how it compares with my Crusader ones. So far, however, I am impressed!

Gripping Beast Plastic Vikings

2010-05-26T03:17:00.000-07:00

The words "Gripping Beast plastic Vikings" were, for me, the wargaming equivalent of the words "Scarlett Johansson and Penelope Cruz in lesbian love scene" for the cinema. Gripping Beast Vikings were the first 28mm metal figures I ever bought. They were also the first metal 28mm figures I actually had a game with. So they were, therfore, the one "must buy" from Salute. Sadly, like the aformentioned Johansson/Cruz scene, they have proved to be something of a disappointment. I have built several and painted one and have the following thoughts.

Four sprues of ten figures each

The standard sprue

Firstly, what do you get in the box? Four identical sprues with each. Each sprue also contains:

10 bodies all in chainmail (five different types; 2 of which have left arms attached)

10 shields (plus one with attached spears)

6 swords in scabbards

2 double handed axes

2 single handed axes

6 scram knives

4 pouches with attached scrams

14 helmeted heads (10 different)

4 right arms holding a sword

2 right arms holding single handed axes

5 right arms with spears

4 hands holding swords

4 hands holding single handed axes

2 arms designed to hold a double handed axe

5 left arms

Detail of the main sprue

This sound like a good varied selection but I have a few issues:

I would have liked a few more left arms: as four have them attached to the figures and you get only five more then it means that one of your figures per sprue has to be a double handed axeman.

Only five spears per ten figures and no seperate spears. Vikings fought primaily with spears in a shieldwall; I find that two many swords and axes make it more a sort of Warhammer look.

There are no swords which either aren't in scabbards or have hands attached. The idea is that you cut a hand off an arm holding an axe and replace it with ahand holding a sword (and vice versa). I have done this and it works Ok but you have to make sure you cut at exactly 90 degrees.

Command sprue (x2)

Next there are two identical command sprues these contain:

2 bodies in chainmail (the same as two of the figures on the main sprue)

2 heads. these are different from the main sprue: one in ahelmet, one bareheaded.

2 shields.

1 right arm holding a horn.

1 left arm holding a sword.

1 right arm holding a sword.

2 swords in scabbards.

One cloak with an animal skin on it.

My issues with this are:

It's a shame that they couldn't have done some new bodies.

There are only two left arms and one is holding a sword so you can't have your hornist holding a shield as there aren't enough left arms.

Overall I would have liked to see: more variation in bodies, more bare-head options, more spears and more left arms. So, the set is not as flexible as it could have been.

Also included is a brief set of instructions (mainly concerned with the assembling of the two handed axemen and some (rather small) paper flags.

First painted plastic. Its is quite tricky to dry brush the rather shallow plastic chainmail detail

The figures go together quite well, although gaps between the arms and torsos can't be filled because of the pattern of the chainmail. I did find on some arms that I had to trim off some of the arm to get it to fit properly. There is only one real assembly problem and that is to do with the scabbards. Most of the sleeves come down so low that there is no room to fit a scabbard (especially if it includes the sword's grip). A number of the figures are depicted with over the chest belts from which swords would have hung but getting them in place is a real problem; you have to make them stick out at odd angles.

One of the few arm/body combinations that permit the scabbard to hang correctly

If the sword hilt is attached you have to angle the scabbard like this

Couldn't get a scabbard in at all on this one as the sleeve comes down too low

L to R: old Gripping Beast metal, New Gripping Beast plastic, Artizan Designs and Foundry

Sizewise, they are smaller than many of my old Gripping Beast figures but are similar to the Artizan and Foundry ones which make up the bulk of my army. Certainly you could mix them in with no problem. Two things I don't like: the spears are very fat (compared with, for example, the Immortal Miniatures plastic Greeks spears) and are fatter than the Gripping Beast cast spears I have used on my other Vikings. Secondly, they definitely have a slight case of big head syndrome (some more than others) which is a shame as most plastics are edging towards more normal proportions (Perry, Immortal). In short they are rather more cartoony than I would have expected from the Gripping Beast of old. To be fair I need to get some more painted up and see what they look like en masse but I would give the whole box a slightly disappointing 6/10.

Dark Ages Size Comparison 2

2009-01-08T15:20:00.000-08:00

Left to right: Early GB Viking, 2nd incarnation GB Viking, 3rd incarnation GB Viking, Artizan Viking, Crusader Norman, Foundry Viking, 4th Incarnation GB Viking.

The one on the right is a character (Harald Hardrada) who was a strapping chap so you would ecpect a bigger figure but he is 32mm foot to eye.

Norman Archers

2008-12-27T11:45:00.000-08:00

Baguettes at ze ready!

I finished the pack of Crusader Normans I bought at Warfare last month. They didn't take too long, about two days all in all. The bows are a bit hefty and I probably should have replaced them with the Gripping Beast ones, which are more in scale, but I couldn't be bothered!

I'm looking to do William's Army for Hastings and although we don't have any details of the exact number and composition of his army I am going to follow the Osprey by Christopher Gravett where he estimates 1,500 archers. I'm going to do these armies at a ratio of 1/50 so that will give a total of 30 figures altogether. Crusader also do archers in armour (there are a few illustrated on the Bayeaux tapestry) so I will buy one pack of those and two more of unarmoured archers.

Some more Normans

2008-11-23T12:07:00.000-08:00

I ordered some more Normans from Crusader last week and picked up some more at Colours yesterday.

Despite being in Poland most of the week I managed to finish another five figures today. I got some LBM shield transfers but won't use them on every figure as I think they are too ornate for every soldier.

Next I'm going to paint some archers befre doing a couple of cavalry. However, I'm in Bristol and Bath most of this week and then off to North America for three weeks so they will not be finished until Christmas.

First Norman

2008-11-16T14:19:00.001-08:00

I bought a batch of Crusader Miniatures Normans on eBay recently and they arrived this week. While I was finishing my Early Saxons today I filed, based and painted this one as a test. It was really quick to do (yes, I know, it looks it) but I should be able to churn out some of these quite quickly.

So on the workbench for Dark Ages we now have 5 Norman infantry, six new Foundry late Saxons and four more Early Saxon Gedriht. That should keep me busy for a bit when not doing Napoleonics!

First Gedriht

2008-11-16T14:07:00.000-08:00

Well, needless to say it took me a lot longer to get these painted than I thought but I had no idea that I was going to get hijacked by French Napoleonics!

But here are my first five Gedriht which were as easy to paint as all Musketeer Miniatures figures. These are my leader's hearth guard (I haven't painted him yet) and are a hefty 18 points each (15 for the figure and 3 for the mail armour) so we have 108 points straight off!

These have got me back into Dark Ages figures again so I will get the next few undercoated and do what I did with these add odd colours as I paint other figures.

Battle of Stamford Bridge

2008-10-06T22:33:00.000-07:00

My Gripping Beast Vikings

My little boy had to write an essay about the Battle of Stamford Bridge this weekend and mentioned that it would make a great wargame. Quite right too! I am sure that some of the magazines have had scenarios before and maybe it was covered in one of the WAB supplements (Shieldwall?). Can't check as I am in Dubai at the moment. At least there is no temptation here to start up another army just becuse I am visiting somewhere!

So maybe I will have to put my Early Saxons on hold and paint some late Saxons! For wargaming purposes I split the Saxons into three periods: Early Saxons from the Romano-British period (Musketeer make the best ones by a mile), early Anglo-Saxons to take on the Vikings (Kind Alfred period) and late Anglo-Saxons (1066 period). Unfortunately they all look different and finding figures I like for the later period isn't easy. Gripping Beast do some but the range isn't very large. Crusader have a nice range but they are from one of his shorter figure ranges. I have some Black Tree Design ones but they are very variable. I quite like the new Foundry figures but they don't have any kite shaped shields (although GB do them). Maybe I will get some of the Foundry Saxons and give some kite shields (I have a few anyway) as the look stylistically similar to my Foundry and Artizan Vikings.

The Vikings are easier as I have Foundry and Artizan which go well together but also Gripping Beast which are more historically accurate (especially as regards the shields and in-scale weapons) but the range isn't that big.

Gedriht Unit now based

2008-09-22T08:48:00.000-07:00

Despite the enormous distraction (distractions?) of Ola Jordan in a backless, low-cut, skin-tight, shiny leopard-print catsuit on Strictly Come Dancing on Staurday night I managed to base up the big unit of Gedriht.

Ola! Distracting!

Next stop is to do the filler on the bases and undercoat them. I'd forgotten what really nice figures they are (like Ola!). Suddenly enthused by Dark Ages again, in fact I have put all my Ancients away as I was getting stressed by the number of based but unpainted units.

Some more Early Saxons

2008-09-18T08:42:00.001-07:00

I picked up some more Musketeer Miniatures Early Saxons at Colours last weekend. I bought a bag of 20 Gedriht even though I already have some based so I will try to get the rest filed and based this weekend. I usually clean-up and base figures whilst watching TV with the family on Saturday evening and Strictly Come Dancing starts again this week; one of my guilty pleasures.

It will be even more pleasurable this year as Rachel Stevens is in it: well worth launching a longboat full of warriors in order to capture her!

Rachel: worth pillaging from a village!

First Early Saxon Unit

2008-02-10T14:10:00.000-08:00

This is my first completed Early Saxon unit for Age of Arthur: a unit of Duguth, which I finished today. The figures are Musketeer Miniatures with Little Big Men standard and shield transfers. The house in the background is by Grand Manner. I have another one down from the loft ready to start. These were great to paint and I have already bought some figures for my next unit, which will be Gedriht, in chainmail, then I will do another unit of Duguth and then a unit of Geoguth. The unit is only 175 points for WAB and for these sorts of warriors probably needs to be bigger to keep rank bonus. Once I have got a few more units done I can add another file or two.

Games Workshop Rohan v Musketeer Miniatures Early Saxon

2007-11-28T14:56:00.000-08:00

Someone on TMP asked how they compare. Very different styles but I love them both!

Dark Age Irish

2007-10-28T13:48:00.000-07:00

I decided to finish my first Crusader Dark Age Irish figure, which I had used in the comparison photo below. So here he is. The spear is cast on and is much bigger than the brass ones I am using now. The problem with the WAB Irish army is that the individual troops' points values are so small you need bucket loads of them for an army. Eventually he will be desitned to take on some Vikings.

Dark Ages Size Comparison

2007-10-28T02:10:00.001-07:00

Left to Right: Musketeer Early Saxon, Artizan Viking, Gripping Beast Early German, Foundry Viking, Crusader Dark Age Irish.

I am very fussy about mixing different manufacturers but all of these are fine. Two comments: The Musketeer characters are a bit bigger than the rank and file troops (in the case of the General and Standard bearer quite a bit bigger but as the head and hands etc are all the same size it just means that they are big strapping chaps). Secondly, I have always found the Crusader Dark Ages stuff a bit smaller than the other manufacturers but proportion wise and head size wise they are compatible.

Duguth Standard Bearer

2007-10-26T11:47:00.000-07:00

This is the Musketeer Miniatures Duguth Standard bearer with Little Big Men standard. I've now got 15 figures painted for the first Duguth Unit but won't put it up until I finish the next five figures which will complete an initial basic unit of 20 figures. Probably I need bigger units than that but 20 figures seems to be the WAB Dark Ages standard at Guildford so it's a good start.

The main thing is that I have painted 16 figures in a month which shows I enjoy working on them. I have now ordered some more officers and some Gedriht. Musketeer have recently issued some missile armed skirmishers which don't seem to have been employed a lot historically but they only cost four points each and I have found slingers can be quite effective in WAB as they get two shots if they don't move.

Early Saxon Army Standard Bearer

2007-10-15T14:31:00.000-07:00

Here is the army standard bearer. Musketeer Miniatures with Little Big Men flag and shield transfer (actually a Varangian one). I decided to give him a big shield as he is a big chap, towering over the Duguth. Also at 113 points he is worth more than the other 10 figures I have painted! This is my first attempt at mounting a LBM flag on a foil (tomato puree tube) backing rather than paper but it was worth the extra effort.

There really should be a prize for Steve at LBM for transforming Ancient and Dark Ages wargaming with his beautiful shield transfers and banners.

Maybe some of the banners are a little too splendid for a grungy Dark Age army; this one is gorgeous: It's so gold and scarlet that if it was a girl it would be Scarlett Johansson!

See the similarity! Gold! Scarlet! Full bodied! Would look nice on a pole! Maybe I've had too much Wolf Blass Chardonnay this evening!

More Early Saxons

2007-10-14T12:38:00.000-07:00

I finished another five Musketeer Early Saxons today and have nearly finished the Army Standard Bearer (probably tomorrow). I've now painted ten figures for my first Duguth unit and they certainly pass the "don't get bored painting them" test. This is just as well as this lot amount to a paltry 85 points.

I don't seem to have enough bucklers for the figures I have got, however, so will order some more I think. Don't know if I lost them or if they weren't included in the last packs I bought (which I suspect). Never mind, the bucklers will be useful to enable me to put some Gripping Beast Early Germans (of which I have quite a lot) in to bulk up the units.

Musketeer Early Saxons

2007-09-23T23:15:00.000-07:00

I finished my first group of Musketeer Minaitures' early Saxons at the weekend. They are lovely to paint and suitably barbaric looking. These are Duguth, experienced warriors. Spears are Perry.

http://www.musketeer-miniatures.com/store.php?r=11&rule=Historical&id=35

I notice that Gripping Beast have just released some Early Saxons as well (thanks to the Age of Arthur WAB supplement) so I will get some of them to see how they look.

http://www.grippingbeast.com/shop.php?CatID=281

Gripping Beast produce some Arthurian Romano British and Welsh types very much modelled on Bernard Cornwell's excellent Arthurian trilogy but for Saxons you had to use early Germanics.

http://www.grippingbeast.com/shop.php?CatID=17

Now we seem to be getting some proper historical figures too with the new trendy bucklers. Hopefully the two ranges will be compatible: certainly the Germans worked with the Musketeer figures (see post below) so I am quite hopeful!

The next five are based up and ready to go..

Musketeer Early Saxons and Gripping Beast Germans

2007-05-13T09:39:00.000-07:00

The four figures on the left are from the new Musketeer Miniatures Early Saxons range. The three on the right are Gripping Beast German tribes. I'd certainly mix them in the same unit and I am really fussy about size differences.

2006-12-24T02:33:00.000-08:00

Second Group of Vikings

I'm trying to clear my shelf so I can lay out the Romans as they are finished. Here is my first unit of Bondi all based up. They are mostly Artizan with a few Gripping Beast. I've got about 700 points of Vikings done now but can't see when I am going to do any others for a while. .

2006-12-22T13:37:00.000-08:00

First Andalusians

I've always wanted to have a go at some Reconquista armies and I bought these Artizan crossbowmen as we were doing a game at the club. Unfortunately, I was ill again so couldn't make it. This was doubly annoying as I had painted them all in one week. They were lovely to paint and I will definitely get some more once all the Romans are dealt with. I need some Moors to pitch against my Carolingians but don't know enough about them to know if the ones from 200 years earlier looked the same. Obviously they wouldn't have had crossbows. I am not sure when the helmets with nasal pieces came in. I'll have to do some more research.

2006-12-19T08:58:00.000-08:00

Dark Age Comparison

Following a post on TMP here is a picture of (l to r): Foundry Viking, Artizan Viking, Renegade Anglo Saxon, Crusader Byzantine and Crusader Irishman.

To be fair I don't own any Crusader Anglo Saxons but that was because they looked rather small compared with the Foundry and Artizan Vikings I had. Maybe I will get a pack to see. As you can see the Byzantine figure is much shorter than the Irish figure. If the Anglo Saxons are similar they wouldn't be compatible with Renegade's at all for me.

2006-12-08T12:56:00.000-08:00

First Unit of Vikings

It's not really. These Gripping Beast Vikings are the first 28mm metal figures I bought, about five years ago. I have since switched to Artizan and Foundry but I recently re-based these and there are a couple of Foundry Vikings in there. The painting isn't that great but I tidied them up a bit. Nice Little Big Men banner helps a lot.

It makes a nice big tough WAB unit but it's over 400 points. Should be tough though! I've decided to build a Danish Viking Army from Shieldwall so I can pitch it against my Carolingians.

All the Dark Age stuff is on hold, though, while I get my Roman Army done for the SOA Battle Day in May.

2006-09-12T12:52:00.000-07:00

It's a Goth..no it's a Saxon..no it's a Goth..

Got totally confused as I bought packs of Saxons, Franks and Goths at the same time then muddled them all up. Here is the Goth captain. Blurred picture as my batteries just went but haven't got time to do a proper one as I have to go to boring Ankara tomorrow and I need to pack but within the mad new security limits.

He's a nice figure with a Spangenhelm and a cloak.

Carolingian Standard Bearer

2006-09-08T13:08:00.000-07:00

I've no idea what a Carolingian banner looks like. The shape of this one is based on the picture in the Osprey Carolingian Cavalryman. I'm going for a red, white and blue colour scheme for this unit as its more..French! The banner was made from a Gripping Beast spear with a crosspiece and a paper banner. It looks OK!

Carolingians

2006-09-08T09:19:00.000-07:00

My most recent Dark Ages army is a Carolingian one. I wasn't going to start another army until I saw Mike Owen's Artizan figures. Slimmer than his Vikings but still compatible, oddly. The cavalry are lovely and it's just as well I've got over my hatred of cavalry as 50% of the points value have to be milites (I suppose some could be on foot) in WAB.

I've started a unit of mounted milites and a unit of liberi (light foot). The only problem I've found so far is that the foot figures don't rank up too well. To get their shields facing the front their spears tend to stick out to one side and collide with the next figure. I think I will get more of the standing figures and just use the advancing ones for the front ranks.

and just drill out a Gripping Beast spear and stick in a cross-piece.
I've solved the problem of the traditional "winged" spear

2006-09-06T12:17:00.000-07:00

Newline Dark Ages Figures

Someone on TMP was asking about these today so here are a couple of comparison shots.

The three on the left are Newline Franks the one on the right is a Gripping Beast Early German as comparison. They have separate shields and weapons. Although referred to by other TMPers as "chunky" I think they are slimmer and more elegant than the GB figures The camera distortion doesn't really show this). This is largely because they have in-proportion heads.

Here we have the Goths (centre three figures) with a Black Tree Design late Roman on the left and a GB Roman Briton on the right. Some of the Goth figures have separte scabbards.

The man at Newline I bought these from told me that their EIR were designed to match the Perry Foundry Romans and I suspect these will go better with the Foundry late Romans than any other make. They are nicer figures, even with just an undercoat, than I had realised in the bare metal but are half a head shorter than GB. I might finish these off now!

2006-08-30T08:00:00.000-07:00

I have set up a number of blogs over the last six months to record my progress in painting a number of 28mm wargames armies.

Mostly progress has been slow due to the fact that I cannot concentrate on any one army for very long! Recently I have spent a lot of time painting Dark Ages figures and so it seemed sensible to pull progress on these armies together in one site.

The first historical metal 28mm figures I bought were some Gripping Beast Saxons and Vikings about five or six years before at Salute 2001. Up until then all the figures I had bought and painted were 20mm plastics, which I liked for the realistic anatomy as compared with most metal figures which seemed to have ridiculously big heads. However, when I saw the GB figures at Salute I was convinced for the first time to invest in some lead and bought a bunch of Saxons and Vikings.

I am now currently working on 8 Dark Ages Armies: Late Saxons, Vikings, Carolingians, Early Saxons, Romano-British, Byzantine, Irish and Seljuks. I am also contemplating some Reconquista armies and a Crusader army as well. Usually I pick my armies on the basis of a figure range but this has not always been that easy with my Dark Ages forces and so I have struggled with some armies.