Introducing Hrafndottir's Raiders

For Christmas I received a whole army of Bad Squiddo Shieldmaidens from my wife!

Of course, every army needs a leader - here's Brynhildr Hrafndottir, Scourge of the Cenél Conaill:

Next, a musician (Inga) and standard bearer (Svala):

The warband box also included Dagmar, a champion:

A unit of sword-armed Hearthguard next - I'll call them Asleif's Hearthguard:

Next a unit of axe-armed Heathguard - these I'll call Katla's Hearthguard:

I also received a unit of Fanatics - I'll call these Thurid's Hearthguard:

Finally for the elite-type choices, a unit of Berserkers - Bolla's Berserkir (the one with the double-handed axe on the front left is one of my new all-time favourite minis - she can be Bolla!):

A unit of hand weapon-armed Bondi come next - Gudrun's Bondi:

And some spear-armed Bondi too (spears from North Star) - Ljufa's Bondi:

I also received a pack of Ravens - not sure what to use them for yet, but prepped them along with the rest of the Bad Squiddo stuff:

The Seer mini provides an option in some rulesets - I'll call her Hedinfrid the Grey:

Finally - time for a beer?

Really love the sculpts - and the casts didn't need much clean up at all.  These will most likely see action set against my Irish army - I have a feeling it'll get quite bloody!

Fenris Games - Miniatures and Scenery

I'd long admired the products of Fenris Games but with one thing or another just hadn't made any purchases. Well, a while ago I backed their KS for The Cauldron Warband - a rather foul, nasty and awesome set of plague-themed fantasy miniatures.

Unfortunately funds were tight at the time, so I could only really spring for a single miniature - Septus Caemia, Undead Legionary:

I intend to use them as a Demigod mercenary for Broken Legions.  The sculpt has just the right amount of detail and the pose is fitting for my intended use too.  It's a single piece casting and had minimal flash etc to clean up.  All in all a really nice mini!

When it came time for the pledge manager I had a bit more spare cash so decided to pick up a scenic piece I'd been eyeing for a while - the Celtic Tall Cross.

It's a tall piece, almost 3 2/4" tall.  I think it'll make a perfect objective marker for the various games I have involving Irish forces - especially Saga and Darklands.

The quality of the sculpt and the cast are both top-notch. I'm hoping to pick up more resin scenery from Fenris when funds allow!

Fenris have all sorts of things that would work for games I have - columns for Broken Legions/Mortal Gods, bits for Gaslands, 3D printed pieces that are pefect for Gangs of Rome/Carnevale. So much good stuff; I really recommend you check them out!

Serious-Play Scenics - Tuft-fest!

I love tufts for basing - they are an economical way of adding interest and detail quickly and easily to bases and I find they can really help tie an army/warband together.

Serious-Play is my go to place - and I placed an order recently, this is what I got (and what I'm planning to use them on).

First up, some more Purple flower tufts - I use these on any of my Irish forces so there's always a need for more of these! (Chosen Men, The Pikeman's Lament, Saga... other plans formulating!)

I'd decided on a red/Mars style basing theme for my Gorkamorka mobs but wanted to add a little bit of detail beyond the rocky/dusty landscape - I opted for the smaller tufts (2mm).  I figure that way they won't dominate the bases of any Grots/Snots:

Between my 15mm Dragon Rampant UNORP and the 18mm Sikh Wars for The Men Who Would Be King I figured I'd need a supply of more generic small tufts too:

Finally as I was checking out I was offered a great deal on some blue flower tufts - I'm sure I'll find a use for them on some project or another!

If you haven't tried Serious-Play I really do recommend giving them a whirl - a lot of products they offer on a taster basis (smaller sheets like the Purple Flowers) but even those are plenty for a skirmish sized project.

Dark Ages Irish - Forannán's War Host

I grabbed the Saga rulebook a while ago, and had been eyeing up the War Banner (Footsore) Dark Ages Irish minis since then.  Well, I took the plunge and picked up their starter warband deal and a couple of other bits and pieces.

Of course, every army needs a leader - and mine is Forannán, a mighty warlord (or so he says):

I also picked up the Irish Infantry Command blister - primarily for these two chaps, which I inted to field as Curadh:

These I will call (L-R) Éogan and Dunchad.

The Warlord and the two chaps above came with banner bearers (and in the case of my Curadh a hornblower).  I've based these up ready for inclusion in units however is needed:

The army deal included two units of Fianna (Heathguard) with Axes:

These can be Cormac's Fianna and Rónán's Fianna.

The deal was rounded out with two units of Bonnachts (warriors) armed with shield and javelins:

These I'll call Fintan's Bonnachts and Dáire's Bonnachts.

Finally I picked up a unit of warhounds, couldn't really miss out on these:

The hound master I'll call Lugaid.

These are mostly single piece models (except the shields of course) and the javelins/standard poles needed to be purchased seperately and the hands drilled through.  Nothing too taxing - although the axes were quite bent and almost impossible to get back straight which is a shame.  A couple of the Bonnacht have mould lines right down their faces which has reduced the detail a little.  Still, for the value these minis offer they are still fair in my opinion.

Now these have been prepped and base dipped they can join the priming queue!

Operation Winter is Coming

Last year (before I started the blog) I ran what I called Operation Winter is Coming on my Instagram.  The idea came from talking to my wife about what to do hobby-wise one day - with winter fast approaching (and therefore the cruddiest of cruddy weather here in the UK) we came to the conclusion that it made sense to concentrate on the prep, assembly, basing and priming of miniatures to get them done and ready for the rainy, wet and colder nights and weekends.  Well, this year I'm taking the same approach to ensure I've got plenty of stuff to paint! (even though the backlog is real)

So, I've sourced and sorted bases to make my hobby supplies look a bit more healthy:

Most of the plastic bases are Warlord Games, the MDF are from the superb JB MDF Wargames Products. I've used them on a few occasions now and I'm always very happy with both the service and the product. I'm hoping to also get some of their scenery; their Adobe stuff looks spot on for Outremer!

So, current plans for Operation Winter is Coming is to compile, prep, assemble, base and prime the following projects:

MacSweeney's Company - Irish Confederation/ECW force for The Pikeman's Lament
Forannán's War Host - Irish Dark Ages force for Saga
Gobzalo Pizarro's Conquistagobs - Goblin Conquistador warband for En Garde!
The Atholl Brigade - Highlander Jacobites for En Garde!

Hopefully I'll get all this in place ready to prime when the weather permits!