Koyote's Britons & other SAGA Stuff

[Ish]

The Anglo-Saxon battle board encourages large units of Warriors and Levies, which with good positioning, can screen a Warlord from being engaged in mêlée since it takes longer for the enemy to move around them. That’s the theory, anyway.

Like I said, I don’t get to play since no one here in Portland plays.

I’m waiting for the eventual release of “Age of the Pharaohs” or whatever they call the game set in antiquity, so I can build an army of Israelites and their Jewish Space Laser.

[Koyote]

A space laser would come in very handy when fighting against the Welsh, Irish, Lords of the Wild, or any other warband that use terrain features, especially forests, to their advantage. 

'Oh, so you think you're going to use Sons of Dana on me?  Think again!  Pew pew pew..."

 

[Koyote]

1 hour ago, Koyote said:

Do you play your Anglo Saxon warlord mounted or on foot?

...

Do you use a big base for your warlord or a stand infantry base?  Also, are your Anglo Saxons mounted on square or round bases?

I asked these questions because I want to build you your very own 'Koyote' Anglo Saxon warlord on a two-part display base.  I have a cool model that will make a good Æthelflæd of the Mercia, but it's mounted.  

I do have a Anglo-Saxon foot-warlord as well, but while the model is impressive, it's less original.

 

[Ish]

They’re all literally sitting in a box unassembled and unpainted. 

[Koyote]

3 hours ago, Ish said:

They’re all literally sitting in a box unassembled and unpainted. 

Unpainted I can understand, but unassembled????

You'll never get into Valhalla with an unassembled warband. 

[Koyote]

[Ish]

It’s called the “Pile of Shame” for a reason. I kind of figure my afterlife will be spent, like Sisyphus, ever toiling away at a task that will never be finished... with the Erinyes swooping in every so often to spill my paint pots and ruin the points of my brushes.

[Koyote]

 

[Ish]

Okay! Enough shame from the Magical Moorish Vikings! I’ve got them out of their boxes, attached to their bases, and hit with the first primer layer.

One point for four Hearthguard; one point for twelve Levies with Bows; and three points for 24 Warriors (divided into two units of twelve).

I’ll need to track down an appropriate Warlord figure and figure out how I want to spend my sixth point... I’m leaning towards either keeping it simple with another point of Warriors or getting fancy and adding a point of Breton Cavalry mercenaries. 

[Koyote]

That is excellent new indeed!

However, I remain concerned about your immortal soul.  Are... those... wretched GW slotta bases I see beneath your most excellent Anglo-Saxon miniatures?

No. Don't tell me.  I don't want to know. 

I will send you proper Renedra bases along with your Koyote-ized warlords -one on foot and one mounted.

Do you have wire spears?  The white metal spears that Saxon Miniatures (now Warlord Games) provides will never do.  If Odin requires a blood sacrifice, wire spears will stab your fingers and pierce your flesh, but at least they won't bend and droop like a flaccid levy fyrdman.

[Ish]

Yes, they’re slotta bases... What can I say, they’re easy to find for cheap prices. I have wire spears and pewter shields, but I’m going to attach those later on.

[Koyote]

11 hours ago, Ish said:

Yes, they’re slotta bases... What can I say, they’re easy to find for cheap prices.

 

Quote

 I have wire spears and pewter shields, but I’m going to attach those later on.

One of the downsides of wire spears is that their smooth surface and doesn't give much for glue to stick to.  Plus, since they don't bend easily, pressure against a spear's end can cause them to pop out of a model's hand.  As such, I recommend that you glue the spears into the models' hands before primering or painting.  Also, since the recesses in the Saxon Miniature's open hands can be quite shallow, I recommend using a hobby knife to deepen the recesses. 

A little extra work up front can save you a lot of heartache down the road.

 

[Torg]

alas - I need to build my saga armies ... and at least primer them. I picked up Viking and Anglo-Saxon to learn to play.

-d

[Koyote]

Okay Ish, since it’s your preference to field a foot Warlord, I’ve assembled you one.

The Warlord is Footsore Miniature’s Alfred the Great. The banner-man is also a Footsore mini. I can’t remember who makes the hound.

There should be enough space on the pole to fit a medium sized Little Big Men Studios flag. The boar pole topper comes from a 5th edition GW Bretonnian knight’s helmet.

Some players, like myself, prefer to play with their Warlord on a 25 mm base, while others prefer a large base. I’ve made you a two-in-one base, so you can play your Warlord either way. Magnets and a circular recess hold the smaller base onto the larger base.

I still need to add texture to the bases, but I want you to see the details of the base design before I cover it all up.

 

 

[Koyote]

On 5/5/2021 at 9:35 AM, Torg said:

alas - I need to build my saga armies ... and at least primer them. I picked up Viking and Anglo-Saxon to learn to play.

-d

Splendid!  Please keep us updated.

In what part of the Ordo Universe do you live? Bellingham? Portland?

[Ish]

38 minutes ago, Koyote said:

Okay Ish, since it’s your preference to field a foot Warlord, I’ve assembled you one.

The Warlord is Footsore Miniature’s Alfred the Great. The banner-man is also a Footsore mini. I can’t remember who makes the hound.

There should be enough space on the pole to fit a medium sized Little Big Men Studios flag. The boar pole topper comes from a 5th edition GW Bretonnian knight’s helmet.

Some players, like myself, prefer to play with their Warlord on a 25 mm base, while others prefer a large base. I’ve made you a two-in-one base, so you can play your Warlord either way. Magnets and a circular recess hold the smaller base onto the larger base.

I still need to add texture to the bases, but I want you to see the details of the base design before I cover it all up.

 

 

 

 

[Koyote]

Ish, PM me your mailing address and I will mail you your Warlord and the Renedra bases.

[Torg]

16 hours ago, Koyote said:

Splendid!  Please keep us updated.

In what part of the Ordo Universe do you live? Bellingham? Portland?

Portland / Metroplex - south.  Down near Aurora / Donald / Hubbard technically.  Work in Tualatin / Sherwood.

-d

[Koyote]

37 minutes ago, Torg said:

Portland / Metroplex - south.  Down near Aurora / Donald / Hubbard technically.  Work in Tualatin / Sherwood.

-d

 Once the plague passes, you and Ish should get together and play some SAGA.  Vikings vs Anglo Saxons is a classic SAGA match up.

 

[Torg]

I get my 2nd Covid shot Friday after next - so maybe by June - where is your usual game location? I have been playing 40k in my garage with a local friend whom also has been isolated down near me.

-d

[Torg]

oh sorry - ISH - where do you usually play?  

I liked the vikings - so I picked up a 6pt box - and I have a 4pt box for Ango-Saxon with an additional spear blister or 2 to get to 6.  

I have the battles book and the main Viking age books - dice and needed cards. I just need to work on painting and putting things together...lol

[Ish]

I live in Inner Northeast PDX, right near the intersection of MLK and Killingsworth. I try to get to the Ordo clubhouse when I can, but The Portland Game Store and Guardian are both pretty convenient.

 

[Koyote]

I finished my Borderers (Age of Crusades mercenaries) armed with javelins.

 

[Koyote]

Ish, I've added texture to the base.

If you paint this model, I recommend painting it in the three separate pieces pictured below. 

A portion of the hounds' base is built into the Apoxie Sculpt that I used to sculpt the base's contours, so if you try to remove it, you will pull the base apart. 

I added pins to the bottom of banner-man's feet to strengthen it's bond to the base once its glued in place.  If you want to play with the model unpainted, then add a tiny dab of super glue to the banner-man's toes (not the pins).  This, along with the pins will keep it in place, but the bond won't be so strong that it will be difficult to remove the model from the base for painting.

If you decide to paint this piece, I recommend using a couple of coats of matte varnish in the recess where the warlord's smaller base fits into the larger base AND on the sides of the warlord's smaller base. Over time, inserting and removing the smaller base from the larger base will cause the paint to chip were the edges of the two base rub together.

I'm not one of those people who regularly varnishes/seals their figures. I use brush on Vallejo Matt Acrylic Varnish on the edges of my models' bases and on pointy bits and edges that stick out, such as the the ends of weapons and sometimes cloaks.

[Koyote]

In my Mutatawaii'a warband, the warlord will be mounted on a camel as well as a single unit of 4 hearthguard.

As I posted earlier, I struggle to find dark age or medieval camel and rider models that are well sculpted, properly proportioned, and well casted. I've purchased camel models from Gripping Beast, Perry Miniatures, eBob  Miniatures, Irregular Miniatures, and even an Aussie company called Castaway Arts. I've looked online at what's available from Eureka Minaitures, Black Tree Design, Warlord Game, Wargames Foundry, Essex Miniatures, Alternative Armies, and others.  In my opinion, all of the models are either too small (most companies), hideous and too small (e.g. Black Tree Design and Alternative Armies), poorly proportioned and too small (e.g., Gripping Beast), and/or casted poorly.  I've come to the conclusion, that models fitting this description simply don't exist, so I am going to have to make due with what's out there.

The camels from Irregular Miniatures are the correct size and except for their feet, are well proportioned.  The quality of the sculpts is meh and the quality of the casts ranges from poor to absolute crap.  Nevertheless, equipped with a rotary tool and greenstuff, and fueled by my peculiar form of modeling OCD, I'm confident that I can make the Irregular Miniature camels presentable.

Below, for purposes of comparison, is shot of the Gripping Beast camel, a WIP Irregular Miniature camel (I still need to fix the defects on the legs and sculpt proper feet), and a second Irregular Miniature camel.   The sculptor of the Irregular Miniature camel added patches of long hair to the model's head, top of the hump, and to its left fore flank, but oddly enough, not on the right fore flank. The patches of hair aren't especially well sculpted and thanks to the quality of the cast, much of the detail has been lost. Rather than try to repair the lost detail, I used my rotary tool to file away the patches of hair on the body.  I then used  greenstuff to cover up the file marks, fill in holes and cracks created by the poor casting, and better portray some of the camel's musculature.

BTW, the Irregular Miniature on the right is an example of one of the best casts I received. the tassels on the bottom of saddle blanket are deformed and mostly missing, but at least cast of the blankets are sharp enough to distinguish between the upper and lower blankets. On half of the models I received the tassels are completely gone and the two blankets look like they've melted into one blurred mess dripping down the camel's side.  I continue to be amazed that manufacturers will allow such crap casts to leave their factory (or in the case of home casters, their garage).  Personally, I'd be ashamed to charge full price for such crap casting.