The Gall-Gaedhill

The final piece of my Irish force for Saga are the Gall-Gaedhill, also known as the Sons of Death) a mercenary option of mixed Norse and Gael blood.

The miniatures are from Gripping Beast and are a nice option to have against those fearsome Shieldmaidens!!

I took the colours from the Irish warband and added some of the red I used sparingly in the Shieldmaidens - seeing as they can be fielded by either side I thought it would be nice to tie them in a little to both forces.

Hrafndottir's Raiders

I've now finished the Shieldmaiden opposition to the Irish - Hrafndottir's Raiders.  These are all from Bad Squiddo's Shieldmaiden range - and they have helped get me back on track painting wise after the less than quality Footsore Irish minis.

The army is led by Brynhildr Hrafndottir, Scourge of the Cenél Conaill:

She is accompanied by her Seeress (Priest), Hedinfrid the Grey and her personal Champion, Dagmar:

As a Champion, I decided to give Dagmar some runic decorations on her shield:

The force also includes the hornblower, Inga (sadly without any purpose in Saga) and the force's banner bearer, Svala:

Svala I converted a little by adding a resin banner from Brother Vinni.  I think it looks the part (and the red is a little brighter than shown in the photo).

On to the troops - first a unit of sword-armed Hearthguard, called Asleif's Hearthguard:

And a unit of Axe-armed Hearthguard, called Katla's Hearthguard:

As you can see, to show their status as elite troops I've given these some runic decorations (just not as many as Dagmar!).  I really like these armoured warriors - especially the one with an axe and full face plate/mail helm, she's not messing about!

Finally for the elite part of the force, a unit of Bersekers, called Bolla's Berserkir:

Bolla there with her double-handed axe and bear ears being all cute and tough at the same time!

Finishing off the force are a couple of units of Warriors.  First the hand weapon-armed Gudrun's Bondi:

And the spear-armed Ljufa's Bondi:

These of course get no runic decorations to show they are the bottom of the pile amongst Hrafndottir's Raiders.

These, despite me stalling a while, were wonderful miniatures to paint - I really do recommend checking Bad Squiddo's Shieldmaiden range out if you are after something a little different for your Dark Ages gaming!

Forannán's War Host

If you've been following my Twitter (@alex_and__a) then you might have seen me cracking on with my Dark Ages Irish warband for Saga... well here they are in all their glory!

All these miniatures are from Footsore's Dark Ages Irish range - I got them a couple of years ago now.  In short, good value, mostly decent quality but a few poorly detailed faces.  For the cost, to me they are acceptable but they aren't a range that I expect to revisit.

Anyway - on to the War Host!

Of course, they'd be a strangely named force without Forannán himself - the mighty warlord who will lead this force to countless victories (perhaps):

He brings with him two of his trusted Curadh - called Éogan (L) and Dunchad (R):

I've also painted both banner bearers - although I can only use one in Saga:

I intend to use the chap on the left in games.  The banners were by Wargames Designs - I just picked the two designs I liked most!

I also had a random hornblower:

Not that he really serves a purpose in Saga...🤷

I have a couple of units of Hearthguard, armed with axes.  The first is called Cormac's Fianna:

And the second is Rónán's Fianna:

I also painted two units of Warriors armed with javelins.  The first I've called Fintan's Bonnachts:

The second I've named Dáire's Bonnachts - these have patterns on their shields just to mark them out as a different unit:

Finally I have Lugaid's Hounds - one of the special options in Saga's rules for Irish forces, a pack of Irish Wolfhounds:

I'm pretty pleased with how these have turned out - as I was painting them the quality of the faces did get me down a bit, but I stuck with it and I'm happy to have them done!  I do have a unit of mercenaries for this force too - but I'm going to take a small break before I tackle those.

Forannán's Shieldmaiden opponents will surely be soon up on the paint table though!

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!  

Fenris Games triple bill

I've spread my hobby funds around this period and one of the first I knew I wanted to buy from was Fenris Games.

I knew I needed something to use as a Sacred Ground scenery piece for Saga Age of Magic for one or more of the armies I have for it - I spotted the Spiral Glyph Stones set  (4 pieces) and thought this could work superbly for Albainn, but also for Érainn if I don't get a better idea!  When done it will also work well for Broken Legions too, as well as other fantasy games no doubt!

I took a picture with old Flavius from my Broken Legions collection as he was to hand:

I'll arrange these on an MDF base of a suitable size with some ground texturing.  If I'm careful with the tufts/grass choices it could work well-enough in a range of our games.

I know that I want some columns for games like Broken Legions and Mortal Gods so picked up a pack of Scrolltop Doric columns as a taster.  I have no doubt that I'll end up getting more from Fenris' extensive column range!  Flavius again serves as a guide to scale:

Not entirely sure how to approach using these - but I am sure they'll prove useful once I get my thinking cap on!

Finally for this order I added the Rubble City caryatid columns (square) - these are really nice.  I plan to put these on suitable MDF bases and keep them quite simple.  Like the other columns these'll work great for Broken Legions and Mortal Gods - but could have other uses depending on where future projects take me!  Here's Flavius striking a pose with them:

Hmm, think a ruined bit of roof section would make a nice bit of difficult ground to place between the two columns... Fenris stuff always has me thinking!

As these items were all available in stock they came quick - and as you can see only minimal clean up is required.  All of them were great value too, so I can definitely recommend them.

Operation Winter is Coming 2020

Another Autumn, another Operation Winter is Coming! It's a basic idea - winter here is usually wet, fairly cold and not conducive to getting minis and the like ready for painting.  So Autumn is a time for model prep, base dipping and priming!

So, this is what I've got on my radar this time round for prepping as part of Operation (in no order as they will likely move about as inspiration strikes!):

I've got my Mercenary Lochos built but not based - I've still got my Athenians and Spartans to build, then I'll base them all up prior to priming.  I love the minis, but the wrist joins on the metal stuff is killer at times from Footsore.  I've got some scatter scenery from Fenris Games also that I'll share soon - that'll primarily work for Mortal Gods (but also Broken Legions and similar).

I've got an order in with Pendraken to 'finish' (haha) the Irish side of this project - as well as a force of Tudor English to pit them against.  I've also placed an order for suitable scenery from Battlescale that I'm looking forward to doing too.

I've got three armies for this made up of Mierce Miniatures stuff and my mind it turning to the special scenery pieces for each too.  I've got one pretty much planned out and I'm just waiting for suitable MDF bases.

I've asked for Antenocitis Workshop bases for my birthday to finally get my Infinity collection moving! With the release of N4 it's about time I got stuck in properly! The bases will also work for other projects of a Cyberpunk vibe too...

And finally there is a mystery project I've got on order as a little taster...more on that when it arrives!

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!

Fenris Games - Celtic Tall Cross

Back a while I picked up the Celtic Tall Cross from the awesome Fenris Games - well I finally painted it up:

I kept it really simple - the incredible texture on Fenris Games pieces does all the hard work and looks good with simple dry-brushing.  I added a couple of tufts to the base - I use these on all my Irish armies so it'll fit in with Saga, Darklands, The Pikeman's Lament or anything else I play set in Ireland!

I can't recommend Fenris Games highly enough - please do consider having a browse and placing an order (and no, I'm not on commission - I just really admire what Fenris puts out!)

The Gall-Gaedhill

After sorting out the Shieldmaidens I decided their Irish counterparts needed a little boost!  I was placing an order with Gripping Beast for rules and dice and while having a browse I came across the Gall-Gaedhill - well, I thought there's not much more cool than a band of bad-ass marauding Norse-Gael warriors known as the Sons of Death!

Shields, axes and swords were separate - I found drilling the wrist a little extra helped a lot with the weapon hands.

I replaced the metal spears that came in the pack with a couple of spare wire ones I had from assembling the Shieldmaidens - which are the same type I used for the Irish so it'll look consistent across the collection.

I think these will work well alongside my Footsore Irish collection - they'll stand out as a threat as they are well armoured and armed.

Five games on my mind right now

Hopefully it is apparent to readers of the blog that I like to mix things up hobby and game wise.  From week to week (sometimes day to day or hour to hour!) the games occupying brain space change and flow - although none ever disappear completely these days, they just go towards the back of the queue for a time!

So, here's 5 games that are on my mind right now!

Dragon Rampant - I have two projects running side by side for this system, one 15mm and one 28mm.  Whether it's the proud armies UNORP against the denizens of the dark woods (or, once lockdown is over the Human Barbarians!) or the clash of Halflings both living and dead, this ruleset will accommodate!  For the fact that I will have three painted armies for this ruleset, with another still to go, this game is never far from my mind these days.

Carnevale - the unique setting of this game and the diverse cast of gangs we have in the collection make me keen to give it a try - however I do want to 'play it painted' so it's got to wait for me to paint up a couple of gangs before it will hit the table.

Mortal Gods - I'm going to chalk this one up to my better half playing (and thoroughly enjoying) Assassin's Creed Odyssey.  The metal minis definitely suffer from the Footsore issue of hand joints (seriously, can we at least have Gripping Beast style pegs on wrists?) so they are finding themselves pushed back on the assembly queue - which at the moment means they won't get primed any time soon either unfortunately. Still, the setting is cool, the miniatures are cool (hand joint gripe aside) so this is on very much still on the brain radar.

Burrows & Badgers - I've had a couple of warbands painted up for this for a while now, but real life has gotten in the way of learning the game and getting a mini-campaign going.  With the purchase of a third, neutral NPC style warband this has bounced back up the queue - and once some suitable terrain is painted up I really hope to get this to the table to start getting to grips with the game.

SAGA - well I finally got round to picking up the Age of Vikings supplement - and the fancy dice - to make use of my Irish and Shieldmaiden armies.  I'm hopeful that the armies shouldn't be too onerous to paint once I get into a groove, so this has bumped its way up the list a little.  However, I find the writing style of SAGA (particularly the 'in character' style of rules clarifications) to jar a little in this day and age with it's 'rarr masculine man' attitude - Mortal Gods has a much better example of 'in character' elements in a rulebook (and even then I personally find it a bit cringey).

Honourable mentions go to Infinity (thanks to the Infinity Army app - seriously, I wish all companies had that kind of approach), Dracula's America (now that I have some Wild West buildings) and Sengoku Monster Hunter (which, as a game, is totally 'me')- maybe next time I do a Five games post they'll have broken into the list!

Fenris Games - Drystone Walls

I've been in a bit of a painting funk recently - I'd been painting a lot of bases mud/sand to keep going but I wasn't in a painting mode.  I looked at my primed stash and thought the rather excellent Drystone Walls from Fenris Games would make for a good way back into the swing of things.  The incredible textures in these pieces would lend themselves to washes and drybrushes and help give me a sense of accomplishment when they were all done.  Here they are:

I had primed them with some cheap sandstone/beige, so just used a wash and a half of diluted Soft Tone Army Painter wash and then drybrushed with Skeleton Bone (again Army Painter).  Really simple, but really effective (I think) to get these table-ready.  They are really verstaile pieces which will find use in a lot of games - I was so happy with them I thought I'd have a bit of fun!

Irish Rebels take shelter

 Shadowpaw's Company await their next victim...

 I really recommend Fenris Games - and these walls are the best I've seen; they make even novice painters like me look a lot better than I am!