Battle of Stamford Bridge

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

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

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

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

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

Dark Age Irish

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

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

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

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

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

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

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.

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. .

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.

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.

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.

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

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

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

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!