Saxon command group

There's not much to report at the moment, though I have completed the build of the Saxon command figures. I also found an old resin cross that I think I originally had earmarked for a Vampire Counts army, but thought it would make a nice little bit of terrain or objective marker.

As usual I really struggled with the metal claws (hands), it was a real struggle getting the plastic pole in there. For the rest I decided not to bother, clipped off the metal claws and replaced them with plastic bits. Time and time again I see people on forums swearing that metal is better - do not believe them! Saxon command group

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Lots of Waffle

verb  BRITISH  speak or write at length in a vague or trivial manner. "he waffled on about his problem"

synonyms: prattle, chatter, babble, ramble, jabber, gibber, gabble, gab, burble, flannel, run on, mutter, mumble, prate, drivel, bleat, cackle

Obviously I have lifted this definition straight from the web, to introduce the concept of waffle to non-British readers. It's the art of speaking (or in our case, writing) at length on a subject, to my mind usually a trivial subject. I have to say I would disagree with some of those synonyms - muttering, mumbling and cackling are nothing like a good old waffle. Personally I prefer the term "musing", it makes it sound more weighty, more considered, more intellectual. And what could be a more weighty issue than deciding what to do in the next month or two?

With the Lion Rampant project coming into the home straight, I have been pondering my next step. There is plenty of undiscovered territory to explore in the vast reaches of the Unpainted Hills, but recently I had mislaid my map and was unsure of the way forward. I even contemplated taking a few weeks off, my commission work is pretty busy at the moment and my brushes (and eyes) are beginning to wear out. But then I noticed that the Lead Adventure Forum Lead Painting League is starting up again at the end of the month. If you don't want to read those lengthy (waffly) rules, the basic idea is that you paint up a team of at least five figures, one per week, for ten weeks. Perfect!

So that's what I will be doing in the next couple of months. Some of the teams I will source from my own collection, some from my commission work. That should give me a good variety of entries to a high standard. With this in mind I have taken a stroll through the foothills and came across these Saxons. The chap on the left was a xmas gift from gaming buddy Matt, it's a Gripping Beast Saxon Warlord. The others are an interesting looking bunch I picked up at Vapnartak, for the princely sum of £1. I don't know which manufacturers they are, but I like the differences in heights, it should add some character to my plastic clones. I thought they would make a very nice set of command figures. 

I will also be entering some of Wars of the Roses retinue for Lion Rampant, the last unit of billmen and the men at arms. These should be finished in the next couple of weeks, but I won't be able to publish photos of them until they have appeared on the Lead Adventure Forum. Sorry Lion Rampant fans. It's not much consoaltion, but here's a photo ripped off the calendar just this morning. It's Eilean Donan castle in Scotland, a lovely landmark, but the main interest for me is the colours of the ground. If I ever get round to building myself a gaming board, these colours will feature in some way. That's enough waffle for now, but more to come throughout the month. 

Lots of Waffle

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Anglo Danes

These are not strictly Anglo-Danes, they are Gripping Beast Saxons with a few Wargames Factory bits to convert them to use great weapons. They are basically to remind me to use great weapons on the Anglo-Dane lord and his bodyguard. I made and painted them very quickly, I only rarely play this faction so didn't want to spend too much time on them. Anglo Danes

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Dark Ages Collection

My complete collection of dark ages figures, all neatly organised in a box file. For the past year they have sat in a variety of places, including a shoe box and a pizza box! Now they have a nice new magnetic home. The box file cost me £4 from a local stationery supplier, while the magnetic sheet costs about £1 from ebay for an A4 sized sheet - this is one and a bit sheets in fact. Based on magnetic pennies, the figures are reasonably secure. If I tip the box up by 30 degrees there is no movement, but I doubt it would survive a complete upending. For storage and trips round to my mate's house for gaming, it's a good  solution.

There's about 100 figures in here, roughly half Viking and half Saxon, with a mix of plastics and metals. Still to be added are my Drabant viking archers, which remain unpainted for the time being. I could also double the number of Wargames Factory levy, but I won't because they are poor figures. I will probably use them as casualty markers, maybe as conversion fodder for zombies. I also have plenty of Gripping Beast plastic Saxons I could build, which might get done one day. But at the moment this gives me enough for two six point Saga forces, or two Dux Britanniarum starter armies, which is all I need. They will probably also be fielded en masse in Hail Caesar games, when we finally get round to it. There's something very satisfying about looking at a set of figures you have worked on, knowing they are ticked off your to do list. Dark Ages Collection

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Dark Ages Levy

My Dark Ages collection continues to grow, the newest addition is these plastic levy troops from Gripping Beast. As a long time collector of fantasy figures, most of them the finely detailed examples available from GW, I have to say that I was a little underwhelmed when the promo pictures for the levy were first released. I had waited for them for so long, then eventually gave up and bought metal figures. However, when xmas came around I received a frame of these new plastics from gaming buddy Matt as a gift - my one and only wargaming gift of the season!

Looking at the frames the quality of the casting and mould lines is very good, as you would expect from Renedra. The sculpts are okay, the bodies are stooped a little and the heads are dominated by the older inhabitants of the village, but decent enough for levy. Assembled with spears I think they are passable, certainly better than the Wargames Factory plastics, though I remain unconvinced by the slinger poses.

They are easy to paint up, a few washes and they are done. With shields attached and assembled en-masse they look pretty decent, certainly as good as many of the metals on offer. Their biggest advantage is the cost. Forty figures to a box, that's five points of warrior quality troops in Saga terms, for about twenty pounds. Add in a blister of metals and a warlord and you have a six point warband. They are pretty generic so could be used as Vikings, Saxons, Danes, etc. If you are not too fussed about historical accuracy you could probably count them as just about any of the Saga factions warrior or levy troops. A good way to add numbers to your collection. Dark Ages Levy

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Tanatus Saxon Archers

It's been a few weeks since I previewed the Saxon archers by Tanatus Miniatures (original post here). Now that they are painted and based, I will reiterate what I said then, that these are finely detailed historical miniatures. They paint up really nicely with a few washes and glazes. I was sufficiently impressed to go a little further with them and add bow strings, using human hair double twisted for strength. They don't score any more hits on the battlefield, but they look like they mean to!

As usual with my dark age figures I have based them on pennies, which are magnetic. This means I can use them on their round bases in skirmish games like Saga, or I can build a movement tray for more conventional unit based games, most likely Hail Caesar at some point.

I have more dark ages metals on the way, coming to me all the way from Salute. When I have those ready I will take some pictures to compare the different manufacturers in my collection. Tanatus Saxon Archers

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Tanatus Saxon Archers Review Part 1

When I first started playing Saga, I did so by buying two boxes of plastic figures for a Saxon warband. It allowed me to quickly assemble six points at relatively low cost. In fact, I could probably double the force with the bits I have left over from the plastics. I really wanted to make up a unit of bow armed levy troops, but they are not that convincing when assembled this way. What to do?

I started to look around at metals. There are some decent figures around, though I do find a lot of historical metal ranges to be far too chunky. I was beginning to think I would never find a suitable range, when I stumbled across Tanatus Miniatures. As you can see from the link, they are distributed by North Star Military figures. I thought they looked very well proportioned from the pictures, but balked a little at the price - a unit of 12 metal levy troops, the worst in the army, would cost the same as a whole box of hearthguard, the best in the force. Put another way, twenty pounds can buy you one point of metal mediocre troops, or ten points of plastic superior troops. It's easy to see why many stick with the plastics. For me, however, the aesthetics are as important as performance on the gaming table. Having spent so much time looking for decent figures, I decided to take the plunge. I have recently sold off some excess vikings on ebay, so the funds had been raised anyway. I ordered on Monday and they arrived on Thursday.

When you tip the figures out of their plastic bag, they look like this. The excess metal bits are easily clipped away and, after a couple of hours of tedious filing, I had removed the mould lines. The casting I would class as very good, with no obvious flaws to be seen. There are no bases included, but this is no problem as most historical gamers have their own preferred way of basing. For me, this means glueing them to pennies, then adding a sand/pva paste mix.

After a white primer and a thin guiding wash, they are ready to paint. You can see that they are quite finely detailed, with good proportions, not too clunky or chunky, which has been the main stumbling block with most historical metals I have experienced to date. I have a ten point Saga game planned for next week, hopefully they will be ready by then. I am playing my vikings, but I think a few Saxon slaves with bows being pressed into service is not an unreasonable thing to do. When the figures are fully painted, I will take a few comparison shots to show them alongside my other Saga troops. Tanatus Saxon Archers Review Part 1

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