Polyxena, Spear of Helios

Although the relationship between Polyxena and the god Helios is unknown, those that have met the warrior will tell you that she surely cannot be entirely human.

She is taller than most men, and slender with it, which alone makes her stand out amongst the warbands she is hired by.  But the most striking thing is the shield and ornate spear that she carries - both of which glow with the light of the sun itself.  The blade of the spear sears flesh with every strike, and her shield blinds those she fights against.

Polyxena, Spear of Helios
Auxilia - Demigod
+1 Agility

Heavy Armour

Eldritch Weapon - Spear (Enchanted, Flaming)

Mystic Shield (Applies permanent Light of Sol, but does not increase Presence of friendly models within 12")
Pts: 69

Stats/Retainer are as Broken Legions Rulebook

This miniature is from Mierce Miniatures Atalantes range.  She was originally planned to lead my Argonauts warband, but I changed that up a little as she stood out just a tad too much.  Given that she is taller and more slender than all the other miniatures for Broken Legions I decided she could become a Demigod from the Auxilia options - which I view as flexible to represent true Demigods and heroic individuals that are blessed (or cursed?) with abilities beyond that of normal humans.  I gave her bespoke wargear to suit the background/paint of the miniature.

Brythoniaid - Age of Magic

I've been inspired to keep on translating over the Mierce Miniatures range of Darklands into the various factions for Age of Magic - here I'll go through the Brythoniaid, or Dark Ages Welsh with their draconic friends.

I think The Great Kingdoms will work well - but if you wanted to feature more strongly the Dragons then you'd want a faction that allows more creatures perhaps.  

Warlord

Here there are a few options - Urien, Teyrn of Môn has foot and horse-mounted versions, Geraint Nerthol, Teyrn of Cedweli has a version on foot and a version mounted on a Ceffyldraig (a four-legged, no-winged dragon-like mount).  Finally the mighty Cadwaladr the Blessed, Rhi of Gwynedd is available on foot - or on an absolutely huge dragon!

Captain

The obvious choices here are the various versions of Carys or Hywel Hir from the Warchiefs section of the Brythoniaid range - although of course if you want a horse-riding version Urien would also work.

Paladin

The best options for these fierce warriors to my taste would be Caedoc, Abad of Becelert or Nerys, Abades of Penmôn - zealots both! However these are only available in foot versions.

Sorcerer

My choice would be Ffion Ferddig, Bard of Gwynedd - again she's only available on foot though.

Monster

The Brythoniaid are spoilt for choice here - for the Scourge option the famous sculpt Angrislaug, Draiggoch of Eryri brings a powerful dragon, or there's a couple of Wyvern options (look for the Wocor).  For Behemoths or Titans my personal choice would be Gahwn, Cawrgwyfern of Elenydd or Bronn ap Banbronn, Pencocwocor.  In short, check out the Monstrous Beasts section of the Brythoniaid range and you won't be disappointed at the options.

Creatures

There are two main options depending on your tastes - there are the more advanced Dragon-men (Dyndraig) or the primitive Wyvern-men (Dynwocor).  Both can be found in the Monstrous Infantry section of the Bythoniaid range.  If you can wait until 2022 then there are quadruped Dragon-men due to be released.

Hearthguards

The best option here is Urien's Guard, Teulu unit - better armoured than the other infantry they'll fit right in here. Otherwise any of the human Warlords or Warchiefs from the range would work.

Warriors

Here it is the Warriors of Dyngonwy, Rhyfelwr unit - although they do also carry bows so be aware of that.  If you've gone for Hearthguards assembled from the Warlord/Warchief options then you could use the Teulu here instead of course.

Levies

Archers are due in Summer 2021 but in the meantime the Rhyfelwr could stand in as they have bows.

War Marchine

Sorry, there's nothing suitable here!

As I've worked through this I think I'd personally go for a more civilised force - using Dyndraig and a Dragon as the monstrous elements and I'd go the route of dropping Teulu down to Warriors and Rhyfelwr down to Levy and putting together a little Hearthguard selection from the Warchiefs/Warlords.  I'd probably take Geraint Nerthol on his Ceffyldraig as my Warlord - it's an awesome model and will tie in well with the draconic elements.

Albainn - Age of Magic

I've previously posted about using the Ysians and Érainn ranges for Age of Magic armies - well now it's the turn of my third and final Mierce Miniatures force; the Albainn.  

These stone-worshipping proto-Scots have a lot of creature and monster options - so could work for both The Horde or The Lords of the Wild battle boards.  I'll most likely use them as The Horde myself.

Warlord

I'll be using Dúngal, Mormaer of Dun Durn as my Warlord - and he is available on a pony too if I want a mounted option. Some of the Warchiefs options from the Albainn range would work well too.

Lieutenant

Any of the warrior-style options from the Warchiefs section of the Albainn range will work well - Ciniod, Brude or Skyclad Itaina all suit the 'Champion' faction special rule for The Horde.  As an aside, four of the Skyclad minis would work well as the special unit of Berserkers available to this battle board too.

Sorcerer

Either Gnith, Morsagart of Dun Durn, or Domnech, Sagart of Dun Durn are perfect options for this option!

Monsters

Anything from the Monstrous Beasts section of the Albainn range will do the trick here - I'll probably go Ettu, Revered Goghu for my monster choice, but there are various giant-types if that's your cup of tea!

Creatures

The Oghurithne are perfect for this - think of them as less-beefy Ogres.  Of course, if you want beefy Ogres then the Oghurs might be what you want! There are even Ogre-Centaurs to give a quadruped option - if that sounds your think then the Oghureach are worth checking out (but they aren't due for release until late-2021).

Hearthguard

The Gairmorlom are the better armed infantry option of the Albainn - or the Oghurithne could fulfil this role if not taking them as Creatures. Of course, you could always use Warchiefs minis that aren't serving as a Lieutenant too.  There is no mounted option as yet for this part of your force.

Warriors

The trusty spear-waving Gairlom are the answer here - although there is no mounted option I'm afraid.

Levies

Here the Elbharu are the option - although the minis have crossbows rather than the bow stated in The Horde's list I find that a small obstacle; the minis have a lot of character so I'll certainly be using them in my force.

War Machine

Now, whilst it's not a War Machine in the strictest sense, I plan to use a Magágg or a Cormorágg as a rock-throwing living machine of destruction!

These fit quite well and I think it'll be easy to make a nicely themed force!  

The Sell-Swords

 

So once upon a time I ended up adding to a Mierce KS for pretty much all of their (at the time) back catalogue of sell-swords in metal.  They've arrived and I figured I might as well use them for a gaming purpose - and seeing as there was a magic user amongst their number, Frostgrave seemed a good fit!

As with the other Mierce Frostgrave warbands I have, I'm keeping the names the minis have already been given.

So, first up, is Florus, Seer-Sorcerer of Friesia:

Next we have Trytheorn, Geat Warrior:

Here's Rikkard, Lord of Rijswijk (I went with the helmed option):

Next is a rather big brute who goes by the name of Maximus, Kerusker Berserker:

Here's Danilo Cruz, Monster Hunter of Cantabria:

Danilo comes with an option for a scenic 'Beast Skull' base - which I've decided to use as an objective marker of some sort (good for various games I reckon!).  I just filled a couple of holes (for Danilo's feet/pegs) with some Plastic Putty and it's good to go:

Next is Ieuan Longshore, Warrior of Wygan (and only ranged weapon chap in the warband!):

Ieuan comes with his trusty mastiff, Taranau who'll fit right in to the warband too:

Finally the only non-Sell-Sword mini in this band is Rudraige the Fat (I just had too many of him already from various bundle deals 😅):

Like all Mierce Metals these have wonderful detail and are clean casts - but some of the joins are very fiddly indeed!

Next up for these will be the standard base texture dip before they join the priming queue!

Érainn - Age of Magic

 

A little while ago I presented my thoughts on using the awesome Ysian range from Mierce Miniatures in Age of Magic - well now it's the turn of my favourite kindred, the Érainn.

As last time, I'll take each unit type in turn, and which of the Mierce Miniatures Érainn range I think best fits.  In my opinion, the best fit is The Lords of the Wild battle board - as a bonus, the Shapeshifters special option can represent the Fir Danu very well indeed!

Warlord

My plan is to use a Rudraige the Fat, Rí Túath of the Uí Néill  - although any of the human warrior-style Warlords or Warchiefs miniatures from the Érainn catalogue page will work.  Note that Rudraige is the only one with a mounted option if you want one of those.

Lieutenant

Again any of the warrior styled Warlords of Warchiefs minis from the Érainn range will work - although I have a soft-spot for Caitrín, Taioseach of the Uí Néill so I'll most likely use one of the various minis of her!  If I want to use the Bow-version I'll represent it with the sling-armed version of Caitrín.

Sorcerer

The option I'll be going for here is Nuala, Druí of Danu - but Crístóir, Cruimther of An Creagán could also work I think.

Monsters

There's a few options here - basically anything under the Monstrous Beasts section of the Érainn page!  As for me, I'll be using a Mórannach, Beast of Cill Chonn Bog and a Cúlaítar, Oak Beast of Lagáin Forest (a serious chunk of resin that one!!)

Creatures

These will suffer from being on slightly larger bases than the Age of Magic rules set out (but as I'll be playing it with just Mierce Miniatures it'll be consistent across all forces so no problem to my mind).  Anyway, for this option you can look to the Monstrous Infantry section of the Érainn page.  This will depend on your personal style - there are ogre style Fir Bholg or the treemen called Fen Beasts.  There are also the fantastically detailed Peat Beasts.  I have some of all three options so I'm spoiled for choice!

Hearthguards

These would best be represented by the Fiannagh but they are some way off.  If I want to use Hearthguard I'll probably put together a motley crew of Warchief models I'm not featuring as any of my other options.

Warriors

There are a couple of options - the axe-swinging Tuanagh or the spear-brandishing Sleanagh (out soon).  I've got quite a few Tuanagh, so that's the route I'll go I think.

Levies

Now, I know the Lords of the Wild list has levies with javelins, but the ranged option for the Érainn has slings - the Maiobhanagh.  I'll be using them as proxies - but I suppose you could use the Sleanagh above to represent javelins a bit more closely.  There's nothing suitable for the Swarm option - but if I wanted to represent those I'd make some particularly wild looking undergrowth on bases (brambles and the like) that I'd consider summoned by my Druí.

I think this maps across pretty well and I'm confident I can make a nice number of options for lists from my existing collection (although eventually those Fir Danu will no doubt also be acquired!).

Ysians - Age of Magic

So, when I picked up Age of Magic my intention was to make use of my collection of awesome Darklands stuff from Mierce Miniatures.  I'm starting to pull together my thoughts as to which Battle Board and unit type to use the various options from Mierce for.

So, starting with those twisted Ysians - in my case themed as the 'piratical Kernowek' as referred to in the background to Darklands.  I'll take each unit type in turn, and which of the Mierce Miniatures Ysian range I think best fits.  To my mind, the best fit is The Horde battle board - as Ysians feature a very wide range of monsters, if you wanted an army of just those you could use the Morrow Island legendary warbands rules too.

Warlord

I intend to use Carrowek of Carn Dhu as my warlord - he's the biggest, strongest and beefiest of the Warlord miniatures available through Mierce for the Ysians.  Pretty much any of the 'Warlords' or 'Warchiefs' miniatures on the Ysian catalogue page would work - although I'd personally stay away from the ones suited to represent magic-users (more on that in a bit), or the  Brutes or Abhorrents (unless using the Morrow Island list variation).  There are options on horses or mounted on something a little more monstrous too if you want to take either of those options.

Lieutenant

Pretty much everything above applies to the options for Lieutenant - I plan to use Crom of Carn Wrach as my Lieutenant; his more action pose (and the lifting of a grisly trophy) compared to Carrowek marks him out as the Champion of the army in my eyes. 

Sorceror

Again - look to the Warlords and Warchiefs section of the Ysian catalogue page.  I plan to use Kernour primarily, but Kerazek, Zethag and Gondard are all viable options (maybe even the Rose of Ker-Ys).  Some are also available on mounts too if you are interested in those options.

Monsters

There are lots of options here to fill this slot - but the Monstrous Beasts section on the Ysian catalogue page is the main place to look!  I have Druc, Meat-Hulk so plan to include him as a Behemoth.  The justifiably-famous Terror of Fortriu, Chimaera is a perfect choice to represent a Scouge option.  If you are playing the basing rules as written, then the Brutes and Abhorrents would make a very thematic Morrow Island list.

Creatures

As alluded to above - the bases of Brutes and Abhorrents are larger than the stated maximum for Creatures under the Age of Magic rules.  But I don't care because the Brute miniatures are some of my favourites ever and that's justification enough for me!  The Brutes of Gondard unit was part of what convinced me to collect Ysians after all, so I'm sure most lists I play will include at least a couple!  For quadruped Creatures, the Hounds of Ys would be pretty perfect (coming later this year).

Hearthguards

I plan to use various Warchiefs models from the Ysians range for units of Hearthguard - given how savage the miniatures are they will work equally well for the Berserkers option available to The Horde too.

Warriors

There are a couple of options here depending on personal preference - I'm going Ax-Drune but if you don't mind nudity (and deliberately buxom miniatures), the Sword-Melusines are another option (especially if you've gone for miniatures like Annik, Alix or the Rose of Ker-Ys as your characters).  If you want mounted Warriors you could go for a unit of Ax-Margh-Drune, but they aren't out until late 2021.

Levies

Again, there's a couple of options - I'm going Bow-Drune (and bought a couple extra as I originally only had 10).  The other option would be the Rogues of Carn Bran unit (but that's quite some way off being released).

War Chariots and War Machines

Sorry, the range as is wouldn't cater for either of these - of course it could be possible to convert something up if you really wanted to, but if you are anything like me it'll be a struggle to fit all the gnarly beasts as it is!


So, whilst not quite matching with everything available to an army chosen from The Horse, it's perfectly possible to have a range of styles of list for this battle board whilst keeping it to just the Ysians range.  

I'll share my thoughts on another Kindred soon, so check back for more Saga X Darklands.

Age of Magic - Saga x Darklands

As anyone who follows me on Twitter or Instagram might have spotted, this week I picked up Saga Age of Magic!

You know the one - it allows for all manner of fantasy wargaming tropes to be used in games of Saga (with added magic and monsters and all that kind of good stuff!):

Now - I'd picked this up purely with the intention of finding a way to encourage me to work on the incredible collection I've got of Mierce Miniatures Darklands stuff.  I love the lore that Rob at Mierce has so carefully crafted for the Darklands world, the miniatures are to my mind the finest fantasy minis out there, but the ruleset was just too complex for my poor mental health addled mind.  I thought that maybe Age of Magic might be a simpler game that would allow me to make use of the armies I have but in a way that my brain will co-operate with!  Of course, should my mental abilities strengthen then the miniatures can of course still be used in Darklands - I'll be keeping the bases and all the names as Rob intended to respect the setting like it deserves!

Anyway, back to the Age of Magic book - lo and behold, I was surprised to spot not just the odd miniature (although the mini on page 91 isn't Shieldwolf Miniatures as listed - it is Mierce; Flint-Fang, Kill-Thing of the Infernal Pits), but a selection of Darklands minis used in the showcase army for the Lords of the Wild section!

Seeing that cemented my plans - indeed, not only did it give me back all my enthusiasm for the wonderful Darklands world and range, but it meant I also placed a cheeky little top-up order with Mierce (those 12-man levies don't match up all that well with the 10-man unit of Bow-Drune I have....) including a couple of surprises I'll share when I have them!

As long-time readers may remember, I have three armies for Darklands - Albainn, Érainn and Kernowek (Ysians).  I'm going to sit down when I have a chance and start plotting which of the Age of Magic factions will work best for which Darklands kindred (and which troop types will work for which minis/units).  I'll start with the armies I have but if the bug bites I'll draw up lists to cover the Darklands world.

Now, this gives me the perfect excuse to double-check and re-catalogue my Darklands collection - time to fire up the old Excel and get stuck in!

The Cursed Herd

Mierce Miniatures recently ran a special offer on some of their metal range and while having an idle browse it twigged that I could do a Fomoraic Cursed Herd (think Beastmen) warband for Frostgrave! Here’s what I picked up – as with the Men and Women of Mierce, I’ve kept the names Mierce gave the minis.

The wizard for The Cursed Herd will be Aanchuth the Cursed – I really like his shark-jaw decoration on his staff:

Daachuch here will be a beastly Knight in the Cursed Herd:

Brunchaath the Vile will make a good Infantryman:

Chaagmuth the Jaw-Taker here is a particularly mean Infantryman:

Baagath here rounds off the Infantryman options:

Chuwaa can be a hairy Bard in the warband:

Gaalgar will be a Templar (of the Order of Baalor) – he’s a big guy on a 40mm base (in Mierce terms he is a bigger species of beastman):

Finally I got another of Gaalgar’s kin by the name of Culgaar, who will be another Templar – I like his rather wicked looking weapon:

As with all Mierce Miniatures products the quality is top-notch – these will be a joy to paint I think!

Frostgrave Progress

I'm knee-deep in Operation Winter is Coming, so here's a quick update on my now-assembled warband for Frostgrave - the Men (and Women) of Mierce.

First up, the obligatory wizard - Cynemon:

Now, while I really like the model and it's got lots of characterful detail he is on the tiny side - hence his slate booster-cushion.  I suppose I'll just have to say that his use of magic over the decades has caused his growth to stunt compared to his fellow humans as he's way off the other Mierce miniatures.

Anyway, from the tiny to the huge - here's Penda (a barbarian for the purposes of Frostgrave):

Here's a big lad, but as he's a barbarian that's fine by me! Just in case you are puzzled, his non-sword hand is werewolf like because in Darklands the Angelcynn are shapechangers.

Next up is Penda's Mrs, Meloda who will be a Treasure Hunter:

Here's Aldhelm the Sceop (or Bard for Frostgrave):

Here's Timoth, who will be a Templar.  That hammer was a ***** to fit, so I'll have to just live with the bent handle:

Next up are the warriors, Eadric (L) and Wulfhere (R):

Finally we have the archers (L-R) Gutch, Olric and Mardith:

All of the miniatures are gorgeous sculpts with lots of characterful details without being too busy (not like GW modern plastic stuff) - but, and it is a shame, the scale is all over the place.  Of course, I don't expect every mini to be the same height, but there's no real consistency across these Angelcynn minis.  I'm sure with a cohesive colour scheme and basing style they will look like a warband, but poor Cynemon will forever look stunted I'm afraid.

The Men (and Women) of Mierce - getting started

A couple of years ago my wife bought me a stack of Osprey Games rulebooks - one of those being Frostgrave.  I was originally intending to get some double-duty out of my Mordheim or Darklands collection to play it, but while I will still do that the Mierce Miniatures sale of surplus metal stock caught my eye - I knew I would never get round to collecting an Anglecynn army but I still liked a lot of their miniatures... and so a Mierce Frostgrave warband was put together! (that's the wolf-born realm of Mierce as well as comprising minis from that company!).  Here's what I got - all names are as given to the miniatures by Mierce!

Of course, every warband in Forstgrave needs a wizard to lead it - here's Wulf Skull Cynemon, a special alternate of the normal model:

I plan to use old Cynemon here as a witch, so at some point I intend to pick up Rēoc, Frēawulf as his Animal Companion (a totally over the top Wolf but I love the model!).

Every warband needs some warriors - here's Warrior Wulfhere (a special alternate of the Wulfhere Fanaberend miniature):

Wulfhere's buddy here is Shieldwall Eadric (a special alternate of the standard Eadric mini):

Next up is Timoth, I'll likely use him as a Templar, but he could be an Infantryman too if needed:

Here we have Meloda, I plan to use her as a Treasure Hunter:

Meloda is a superb miniature so I am really pleased to have her in the collection!

Of course, it would have been remiss if I didn't have Meloda's husband - the legendary Penda the Bloody-Handed!

Penda is an absolutely iconic Mierce Miniatures model - not sure what I'll use him as, possibly a Barbarian to reflect his savage wolf-nature.

I also picked up Aldhelm the Sceop of Mierce - he'll be a Bard when I pick up Thaw of the Lich Lord:

I knew I needed some ranged attacking ability, so picked up some Ceorl Bowmen - here are Olric, Mardith and Gutch:

I'm looking forward to getting cracking with these - sorted some special basing material too which I'll share when it arrives!

Oghu Worshippers - My Albainn Host List

While I already had the Érainn and Kernowek planned and sorted, there have been some superb offers from Mierce over the years and with the quality of the miniatures I couldn't resist making my Darklands collection a triple!  The stone-worshippers of the Albainn (think Darklands Picts) are superb miniatures and the starter hosts have proven excellent value over the time I've been into the range.

The Albainn are characterised by their cheap human troops and a variety of Ogre- and Giant-like allied races.  All allied together through a desire to protect the Oghu stones and to turn away those who would invade and take their lands.

I've built up quite a good collection and can field a host of 2500 gold (well, when it is assembled and painted at least!)

Mormaer (morarfis)
10 Gairlom
12 Elbharu
Savage Oghurüc

(host command - think of it as the King's court of closest advisors)
Oghurithne Unund
Sagart (Block, Oghu Power and Stone Shatter)
Skyclad Aurmaer (Oghu Woad)

Oghurithne Umaer
5 Oghurithne
2 Oghurithne Hunters
2 Goghu

Umaer (shield)
Oghurigg (bound)
10 Gairlom
Aurogg

Golgog Goat-Eater
2 Slēanbera
Cocwocor
Felljötunn

Coming to a total of 2496 gold as at Albainn list v1.24

Just like Alix for my Kernowek, Golgog is a sell-sword.  He's an Oghur freebooter from Albainn, but he lets you take a motley crew of monstrous infantry from any other kindred - I've got 2 axe-swinging bears from the Beornica realm of the Anglecynn, a shrieking draconid-man from the Brythoniaid and a towering Felljötunn of the Norse.  This allows me to collect my favourite monsters from the whole Darklands range but still have a gaming use for them. Good stuff!