Lead Adventure Forum
Miniatures Adventure => Medieval Adventures => Topic started by: Shirer on 22 April 2015, 07:01:19 PM
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I'm fairly late joining the SAGA bandwagon - it's something I've wanted to get into for a while, but other projects have always taken priority.
Having said that, I recently decided to take the plunge! When choosing my force, I had the following things in mind:
A) The majority of the figures need to be plastic - just out of personal preference.
B) The army needs to offer some scope for conversion.
C) The army needs to give me the opportunity to build and paint a nice variety of models.
All of those things, and the books I happened to be reading at the time, led me to the branch of the Normans who went south to find fame, glory and - more importantly - land and gold. The Siculo-Normans. This seemed attractive as it'd offer the opportunity to mix some of the excellent plastic Normans and Arabs, and would also give me an excuse to eventually build a Byzantine warband for them to battle!
At the moment, I'm aiming to build this 5-point warband. I'm undecided as to what to spend the last point on to boost it up to 6, so any suggestions are welcome!
Hearthguard
Hearthguard
Mounted Warriors
Crossbow Warriors
Levies
I wanted there to be a mix of Norman and Muslim Sicilian influences evident across the warrior and levy units - the hearthguard will be Norman knights with a few subtle additions to differentiate themselves from Western Normans.
For the crossbow warriors, I mixed Conquest Norman infantry, GB Arabs and Fireforge sergeants.
(http://s9.postimg.org/mtkfnld3j/IMG_1657.jpg)
(http://s2.postimg.org/4k2zavqyx/IMG_1656.jpg)
Back of the neck just needs tidying up with greenstuff here.
(http://s13.postimg.org/rrxxcw6wn/IMG_1661.jpg)
Sicilian wearing scale armour.
(http://s28.postimg.org/56j97xob1/IMG_1663.jpg)
(http://s10.postimg.org/enl3jedx5/IMG_1668.jpg)
The levies are predominantly the famous Sicilian archers, with a few Norman archers and sling-staff men thrown in. Bodies are either GB Arabs or GB Dark Age Warriors
(http://s23.postimg.org/6y6sr2kbv/IMG_1677.jpg)
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First hearthguard unit.
(http://s27.postimg.org/y1hui5vvn/IMG_1678.jpg)
(http://s4.postimg.org/im38mrln1/IMG_1679.jpg)
(http://s17.postimg.org/yk9m5dhxr/IMG_1681.jpg)
(http://s22.postimg.org/577ne7ygh/IMG_1684.jpg)
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I'm not familiar with the Siculo Norman but those are very nice conversions.
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Really liking where this is going :)
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Top work...I shall be following your progress with interest....already a stand out group of figures and they haven't even been painted yet
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Excellent work - I really like the mixing of nationalities
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Guiscard and his reitue then..... should make for a very interesting read as you go along with the work.
I've got a large Italo-Norman WAB army (all metal) of which the Western European elements are about to be re-based for the Hastings demo next year.
You can see most of it here if you're interested (in retrospect i would have added much more from the Cursader El Cid range and some more from Artizan's Andalusians/Moors too):
http://justaddwater-bedford.blogspot.co.uk/search/label/Battle%20of%20Hastings%20Demo%20Game
If you like I can post up some pics of the more 'Arab' type mini's- might serve as some inspiration?
darrell.
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Excellent, characterful conversions and putty work.
:-*
Plenty of scope to make your own individual force as well by the looks of it.
I understand the need for conversions as I do love to make something personal myself.
8)
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Thanks for the interest, everyone! It is proving to be a lot of fun so far - I've certainly never done this much kitbashing before!
If you like I can post up some pics of the more 'Arab' type mini's- might serve as some inspiration?
darrell.
Those Normans are fantastic! Yeah, more inspiration is always a good thing - that'd be great, thanks!
Went off at a slight tangent tonight, and started messing around with some ideas for the Byzantine warband which'll be providing the opponent for my Normans. Wouldn't want to leave them without anybody to fight!
So, here are some Varangian guard (don't have the SAGA: Basileus book yet, but I'm pretty sure they can be included along with a special character) in parade dress. Based on a picture in an Osprey book, and these http://www.crusaderminiatures.com/images/dab007.jpg . To create them, I mixed Conquest Norman bodies and axes, Fireforge cloaks and GB Dark Age Warrior heads.
(http://s13.postimg.org/3pzpgiz53/IMG_1691.jpg)
(http://s28.postimg.org/u48tmx0y5/IMG_1695.jpg)
Also on the table tonight are a unit of Byzantine spearmen (warriors). Heads are a mix of GB Saxon thegn and Victrix peltasts, bodies are Fireforge Sergeants and shields are from GB Arab Spearmen. I don't actually have as many sprues lying around as this all of this suggests - I tend to pick the odd one up here or there. One of the things I like about Saga is the small unit size means it's easy to knock units up out of these odds and ends.
I will be doing some greenstuff work on the helmets here - I want to make the (I'm not sure what the technical term is!) leather flaps which fall from the back of them as shown here.
(http://s8.postimg.org/x6wd316vp/elmi_bizantino_e216_450x450.jpg)
(http://s21.postimg.org/5fmmb4w9z/IMG_1698.jpg)
(http://s22.postimg.org/pwoboi6ap/IMG_1701.jpg)
(http://s30.postimg.org/titewmwep/IMG_1697.jpg)
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Really great kitbashing, hope to see more soon.
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Thanks for the interest, everyone! It is proving to be a lot of fun so far - I've certainly never done this much kitbashing before!
Those Normans are fantastic! Yeah, more inspiration is always a good thing - that'd be great, thanks!
Great, I'm off to London today for Salute tomorrow so I'll post up the pics when i get back- along with some lovely Salute show pics too boot! Hurrah!! :)
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nice start here on your Norman army :-*
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Great idea. I always particularly loved that Angus McBride painting of the Normans splashing ashore in Sicily.
Nice kitbashing too. Some good creations there.
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Lovelly conversions.
Its becoming a nice force. :-* :-*
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Looking good like the idea I picked up lots of Arabs for a crusade project later in the year, and now GB are bringing outlasted arab cavalry I have little choice. I too have a norman retinue so they can double as saga retinue and c and c Warband.
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The Gripping Beast "Arab" cavalry should prove to be very useful.
It appears you can never have too many plastic kits.
A couple weeks ago I got the idea of snipping some heads off Foundry Arthurians and replacing them with GB plastic Saxon hirdmen heads (in late Roman style helmets). I have to say I am very happy with the results. Of course, that minor conversion was nothing campared to your Sicilian Normans. I am really impressed by your work.
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Great conversion work! :-*
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Excellent! I'm living for ten years now in southern Italy and I'm becoming more and more obsessed with the Normans.
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very nice conversions, love to see them painted
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Thanks for the feedback, everyone! Hoping to get some more pics up later - I'm now up to the 5 point mark, although as yet I still don't have my warlord sorted.
The Gripping Beast "Arab" cavalry should prove to be very useful.
Definitely, I'm getting a box of the heavy cavalry ordered as soon as they're up on the webstore. They're going to become my Byzantine hearthguard, I think.
Great idea. I always particularly loved that Angus McBride painting of the Normans splashing ashore in Sicily.
Nice kitbashing too. Some good creations there.
Thanks - that picture was the inspiration behind the whole force really! It sums up the potential variety of the force with the Muslim archer on the ship, too.
Excellent! I'm living for ten years now in southern Italy and I'm becoming more and more obsessed with the Normans.
It's a fascinating topic. I was reading the other day about Harald Hardrada's interactions with the Normans in Italy - first as allies, then as enemies. Opens up more possibilities in terms of how I put the Byzantine army together, too!
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Here are the mounted warriors and second hearthguard for the Normans. I'm going to add another unit of mounted warriors eventually to make the complete 6 points - giving me 2x hearthguard, 2x mounted warriors, 1x crossbow warriors and 1x levy archers.
(http://s23.postimg.org/ff4ff0fzv/IMG_1725.jpg)
(http://s10.postimg.org/cjo4gnr2x/IMG_1721.jpg)
(http://s14.postimg.org/q3qk2m35d/IMG_1733.jpg)
(http://s2.postimg.org/n449ksm0p/IMG_1731.jpg)
(http://s27.postimg.org/5dr8bt6j7/IMG_1732.jpg)
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Great conversions! Really looking forward to the rest of the forces. :)
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Great conversions! Really looking forward to the rest of the forces. :)
Thanks! Going to get myself another sprue of Conquest Norman knights to build as 4 more hearthguard.
The list for 6 points I'm going to start out with will be:
Mounted Warlord
8 Hearthguard
4 Hearthguard
8 Mounted warriors
8 Crossbow warriors
12 levy archers
We'll see how that gets on! Looking forward to getting started on painting these now.
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Those are some really great conversions. These ideas would work for Spanish El Cid armies. THis is why I love plastic models. This is so much easier to do now.
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These are really good looking! I cant wait to see them all painted up!
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Normans in Sicily is a fascinating history. I have two armies one a Sucilo-Norman army and a rival Sucilo-Emirates army.
It is intriguing to consider a Byzantine army that would 'force' an Sucilo-alliance to oppose the 'Greeks'.
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Great conversions! :-* :-* :-*
As I said earlier, this is of great interest to me as I have a substantial Italo-Norman army and the adventures of Robert Guiscard are of great interest too. It will be interesting to see what scenarios you decide to use with this smaller force.
Regards,
Darrell.
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Those are some really great conversions. These ideas would work for Spanish El Cid armies. THis is why I love plastic models. This is so much easier to do now.
Yeah, me too! I did think that these would be pretty interchangeable in terms of using them for a Spanish warband, but I think I'll wait before attempting to play them as their battleboard seems fairly complicated!
I'm hoping to get some of the models painted over the bank holiday weekend - in the meantime I've made up another unit, who could pass for either warriors or Flemish mercenaries. I think I'd use them as the latter - I've read that the Normans used Flemish mercenaries in their Italian campaigns, and they could always count as another heavily-armed unit of mercenary spearmen recruited elsewhere.
(http://s16.postimg.org/fpujwyqlx/IMG_1752.jpg)
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Very nice work.
I think I need to get a box (or two) of Fireforge figures, as they seem to work very well with the other plastics.
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Looking very good. :-* :-*
With imagination almost all the plastic kits are interchangeable some times with help of green stuff.
If you dont know these books do please read them. They are a most for your project:
Mercenaries, Warriors, Conquest from Jack Ludlow.
About the de Hauteville family.
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Very nice work.
I think I need to get a box (or two) of Fireforge figures, as they seem to work very well with the other plastics.
Yeah, they're versatile and the plastic crossbows come in very useful! I'd say some of the bodies wouldn't be useable for 11th-century/First Crusade period due to their clothing, but there are plenty wearing gambesons or scale armour that fit perfectly for this period.
Looking very good. :-* :-*
With imagination almost all the plastic kits are interchangeable some times with help of green stuff.
If you dont know these books do please read them. They are a most for your project:
Mercenaries, Warriors, Conquest from Jack Ludlow.
About the de Hauteville family.
Thanks for the tip! I'll check them out - it's a very interesting period.
This isn't the best photo, but it gives an overview of the 6 points I've managed to build so far. They probably aren't the 6 points I'd choose to use in a game, but the Norman knight sprue I've ordered hasn't arrived yet!
(http://s27.postimg.org/blengt0gz/IMG_1759.jpg)
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That's one model down - plenty to go! Decided to paint the crossbow warrior unit first, pleased with the result here on what is one of my favourite individual models in the warband.
(http://s11.postimg.org/x9tkc1303/IMG_1765.jpg)
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Nice brush work
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Very nice brushwork, you've really captured the 'look' with your conversion work and painting :-*
Darrell.
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Thanks for the feedback! Happy with the progress today.
(http://s12.postimg.org/a58u1coel/IMG_1767.jpg)
(http://s8.postimg.org/xkv2sxto5/IMG_1768.jpg)
(http://s1.postimg.org/vrnh0d2cf/IMG_1769.jpg)
(http://s7.postimg.org/t5q0xc46z/IMG_1771.jpg)
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Very well done! The paintjobs really bring the figures together. :)
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Very well done! The paintjobs really bring the figures together. :)
Thanks! Aiming to use a variety of vibrant colours while still retaining some sort of cohesion for the warband as a whole.
(http://s10.postimg.org/m2nxpl04p/IMG_1774.jpg)
(http://s9.postimg.org/7f8btk627/IMG_1777.jpg)
(http://s30.postimg.org/46unuxz81/IMG_1778.jpg)
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Looking very good. :-* :-*
Nice painting job.
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Thanks! Here's a shot of the completed crossbow unit - plus a photo of the first hearthguard, who just needs a bit of finishing off.
(http://s17.postimg.org/nt0ay6vu7/IMG_1783.jpg)
(http://s12.postimg.org/ruxnk28m5/IMG_1790.jpg)
(http://s17.postimg.org/p4cnkegtr/IMG_1782.jpg)
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They look good.
They have that cohesive look, while still being individuals. Are the bases actually play pink, or is that an effect of the photo?
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They look good.
They have that cohesive look, while still being individuals. Are the bases actually play pink, or is that an effect of the photo?
I use Brown Battleground from army painter - must be the light on the photos, although the other colours look normal!
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:o
That look great, all coloured in.
:-*
A proper mean looking bunch of bastards!
8) 8)
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:o
That look great, all coloured in.
:-*
A proper mean looking bunch of bastards!
8) 8)
Haha, that's the look! Unit nearly finished - bit of work on a couple of the horses, and on the banner.
(http://s1.postimg.org/usc0x2x5r/IMG_1799.jpg)
(http://s16.postimg.org/l4j8pwuvp/IMG_1798.jpg)
(http://s22.postimg.org/m75s43ybl/IMG_1800.jpg)
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I really like those crossbowmen. The cloaks on the cavalry/knights - are they self-sculpted or do they come from another box set - they look very effective.
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Very nice painting indeed :-* :-* and very quick too!
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More please. :-* :-*
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I really like those crossbowmen. The cloaks on the cavalry/knights - are they self-sculpted or do they come from another box set - they look very effective.
Thanks! Cloaks are from the Fireforge Teutonic knights set, which also comes with some nice fur-lined cloaks.
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Really nice conversions there!
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This ties in so well with an upcoming project I'm planning, I acquired a shed load of GB Normans and looking through the army lists for Impetus came across Normans in Italy and thought why not? You have done heaps of the leg work for me and provided some great inspiration.
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Haven't looked in Medieval Adventures for a while so i have been missing this lovely thread.
Great idea and i am looking forward to seeing pics of your normans on the table!
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I'm enjoying watching this force come together. Congratulations on achieving the aims you set out :)
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Your painting really stands up well to the close-up shots, which tend to be pretty ubnking to a lot of minis. This is great work, both on the conversions and the painting. Thanks for sharing!
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Thanks so much for the kind comments, everyone - it's really giving me the motivation to keep painting! I've managed to get my first Sicilian archer (levy) painted, although the bulb's gone in my lamp, so the lighting here is a bit duller than before. Just needs a bit of touching up - then on to the other 11 of them!
This ties in so well with an upcoming project I'm planning, I acquired a shed load of GB Normans and looking through the army lists for Impetus came across Normans in Italy and thought why not? You have done heaps of the leg work for me and provided some great inspiration.
Great to here! Good luck with your project - I've found them a really interesting force to research and put together.
Your painting really stands up well to the close-up shots, which tend to be pretty ubnking to a lot of minis. This is great work, both on the conversions and the painting. Thanks for sharing!
Thanks! I've always preferred modelling to painting, so I haven't had much experience until this project - I've aimed for a style that I can get painted fairly quickly, but that still gives me something that looks alright on my shelves!
(http://s16.postimg.org/4sjfsya39/IMG_1808.jpg)
(http://s9.postimg.org/65moi01of/IMG_1809.jpg)
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(http://s24.postimg.org/gwa653o8l/IMG_1822.jpg)
In the background is one of my converted Norman archers - using a head from Victrix's peltast box, a GB Dark Age warrior body (with the arm hacked off!) and Perry WOTR arms and bow - which I've chopped down slightly.
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3 good examples of the possibilities to combine several plastics. :-* :-*
Well done.
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3 good examples of the possibilities to combine several plastics. :-* :-*
Well done.
Thanks, I'm pleased with how they've turned out!
(http://s18.postimg.org/lzfrd3aeh/IMG_1835.jpg)
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Been looking at the sargents box from Fireforge for the armour variations, did you use any of their range?
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Been looking at the sargents box from Fireforge for the armour variations, did you use any of their range?
Yeah, I really like the box. The plastic crossbows are great for converting, and for this area I'd say the bodies with gambesons and the ones with scale armour are very useful. As far as I can remember, there were around 10 of each body in the box.
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(http://s2.postimg.org/p8m6gp1nt/IMG_1852.jpg)
2/3 of the levy now complete - after that, it'll be time to paint the second hearthguard and give that 4-point force a go against some Vikings and Anglo-Saxons.
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Yeah, I really like the box. The plastic crossbows are great for converting, and for this area I'd say the bodies with gambesons and the ones with scale armour are very useful. As far as I can remember, there were around 10 of each body in the box.
Cheers mate, I have ordered a box of the foot sargents and mounted sargents (they had another box with mounted sargents at arms?). I wont be doing much this year, project for 2016, but it will give me time to play about with head swaps, think about green stuff and the like. Look forward to seeing more of your work.