Lead Adventure Forum
Miniatures Adventure => Medieval Adventures => Topic started by: mikedemana on July 05, 2020, 06:09:49 AM
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The first eight spearmen in my new army -- the Moors of Andalusian Spain!
Hi everyone! I've begun a new painting project with the goal of fielding my first army from the Saga Age of Crusades supplement book. I went back and forth for awhile before deciding on the Moors. My figures will be mostly Foundry (or at least I think they are Foundry -- I bought them from a local guy a flea market). I chose the Moors because it is an amazing and very interesting civilization -- very urbane, sophisticated, and tolerant. I also liked its "battle board" the best from the Crusades book.
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Check out my blog for lots more photos and discussion of painting this army
I haven't really fielded a lot of mounted troops in my Saga armies. Most of figures are Dark Ages Britain, so not a lot of cavalry there in that time period. The Moors can feature quite a bit of mounted troops, so it should be fun to learn how to play them effectively in Saga. One of the things I like about the rules, which are really catching on here in Ohio in the US, is the tactical puzzle each turn provides. You roll your command dice and try to figure out how to squeeze the best out of your army each turn. It's not simply advancing your troops into contact and whoever rolls the best dice winning every time.
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The robes would probe to be the most challenging and rewarding part of painting these Foundry figures
Check out the discussion on my blog about the army, the miniatures, and painting the robes and shields. I also talk about how -- prior to painting this batch of eight spearmen -- I felt my painting skills were in a precipitous decline. Read how these have given me a fresh boost of confidence that I am going to need as I undertake painting this incredibly colorful army.
Would love to hear comments -- not only on the painting and miniatures, but also from those who have played the Moors in Saga, or against them. Thanks in advance for your time!
Mike Demana
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Good morning, very nice. I don't play Saga but have built a 28mm Moorish Army myself for use with "To the Strongest". I think your figures are by "Gripping Beast" not Wargames Foundry. They have quite an extensive range in both metal and plastic.
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First off, very nice work 8)
think your figures are by "Gripping Beast" not Wargames Foundry. They have quite an extensive range in both metal and plastic.
Yeah, definitely Gripping Beast.
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Nice 8)
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Thanks for the info, guys! I changed my blog references from Foundry to GB. And thanks for the kind words!
Mike Demana
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Love the freehand. Much better than mine...
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I really love the textile patterns you've got going there. It looks really lovely. As I understand it, "the past" tended to be brighter and more colourful than people typically think.
Lovely work.
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That is some very nice work on the robes. :-*
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I always liked the miniatures, and your painting suits them very well!! Nice, vibrant colours and the patterns are beautiful.
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Cracking stuff 8) 8)
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I painted up those guys as the Black Guard. Much easier :-)
(https://i.imgur.com/xQIHJ6a.jpg)
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Very impressive work on those robes-they actually look like silk. Interesting army too.
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Thanks, everyone! I even went to the store to pick out a few new colors for the next set. Stay tuned!!
Mike Demana
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Excellent painting :-*
Looking forward to seeing the next batch.
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Very nice Mike..Love the variety.
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Great work!!
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I am just getting ready to start some myself. I had bought some painted ones long ago that are all dressed in a tan color. I wanted to deviate from that, just not sure what to do. Great work on yours!
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I don't know much about the period or SAGA as a rule set but I love the colours and patterns on the tunics! Painting a unit of identically uniformed soldiers can get tiresome - not the case with that first unit of Moors!
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Thanks, everyone! Just finished the robe patterns on the second batch of 8 spearmen. They should be finished up in another few days. Actually, two of the spearmen are obviously standard bearers (so I gave them an extra long spear shaft to hold it.
Now I have to do some research on Andalusian banners...! lol
Mike Demana
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My second batch of 28mm Gripping Beast Moorish spearmen
I finished my second batch of Andalusian spearmen for my Moorish Saga army. I purchased some new colors (which you may notice) and used some others from collection. A couple of the robe patterns are the same, but I made some new ones as well as some new borders. This batch of 8 figures even had a couple figures with cloaks atop the tunics.
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A quick look at the robe and cloak patterns -- for closeups of each figure, see my blog link
I also simplified the skin colors from four different flesh tones down to three. I eliminated the Caucasian one and went with the three darker ones. I also changed to a highlighting method on the base coats of these flesh tones. I wasn't happy with how the dry brushing was working on in my highlight colors. Once I do a wash at the end of the process, it blends the line in the highlights a bit (painted on with watered down paints in the next lighter skin color).
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One of the two bannermen that were part of this batch...and no, NOT hand-painted!
All of the shield designs are hand painted. The banners are NOT. For more discussion on them, and LOTS more photos -- including a front and back of each of the eight figures, go to my Lead Legionaries blog here:
http://leadlegionaries.blogspot.com/2020/07/moorish-spearmen-second-batch-finished.html
And thank you everyone for the kind words about the progress of this army and how they look!
Mike Demana
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I have many if the same figures and mine do not look nearly as good. Great job!
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Nice work indeed 8)
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A real labour of love here! They look excellent. Do you think you will 'get away' with some plain robes scattered around the units?
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Wow Mike, lovely figures.
Love your shields.
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Thanks, everyone! I'm working on the first mounted figures for the army right now. Good question about being able to "get away" with some plainer robes mixed in among the fancier ones. Definitely. But I guess I am counting the ones with the decorated borders at the hems, cuffs, etc., being my plainer ones.
I have learned that you more doesn't always mean better, though. So, for example, if your miniature has a cloak, tunic, and pants, do a fancy pattern on only one of the three. If all three are patterned it will overwhelm the eyes, so to speak. At least that's my opinion... lol
Mike Demana
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These are excellent and inspiring! Great to see Andalusian Spain getting some attention, and the figures are just amazing. Excellent colour and detail on these, can't wait to see the whole warband come together.
Those banners are just fantastic, I really like how well they turned out.
Thanks
n
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Coming from you, Joe, that is great praise...especially when you consider your al-Andalus army on your Hour of Wolves and Shattered Shields website has been my inspiration. Every time I am planning out what robe patterns to paint or shield designs, I go back and look through all of your images. For those who haven't seen Joe's gallery, check this out:
http://www.hourofwolves.org/?view=armies&which=andalus&thumbs=1
Mike Demana
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Just spotted these on here - gorgeous work! I love all the patterns and hope you enjoyed painting them.
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Four of my first batch of 8 Andalusian cavalrymen for my Saga Moorish army
I took the plunge and chose to paint a batch of 8 Andalusian cavalry for my Saga Moorish army next. To be honest, I usually somewhat dread painting the mounted arm of my armies. Not surprisingly, they seem to take twice as long as an infantryman to finish! lol
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All eight of the 28mm Gripping Beast cavalrymen lined up and ready for battle
However, I decided to use an online color chart for more than 70 types of different markings on horses to make it more interesting. So, instead of painting "gray horse" I would be painting a "dappled gray." Not only are the markings more accurate than my generic black, brown, white, gray, etc., horses, they look more realistic. Plus, it adds a bit of fun into painting them that was missing before. Or...maybe I'm just weird! ;D
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One of my favorites of the batch -- a dramatic looking rider atop his dappled gray
In addition to giving each horse a unique coloring, I also made their horse blankets spiffy with borders, patterns, or swirls. The riders, as befitting this colorful army, were also given robe patterns -- including some new ones I tried (or more likely, stole from Neldoreth of LAF and his An Hour of Wolves and Shattered Shields website!). I am really happy with how these came out. Both horses and riders turned out nicely, as did the freehand shield patterns, I think.
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I really like the combination of purple robes and the leopard skin shield on this figure
Check out my Lead Legionaries site for individual photos of each of the eight poses, as well as more group shots, here:
https://leadlegionaries.blogspot.com/2020/08/andalusian-cavalry-for-my-saga-moorish.html
I go into a fair bit of detail about my process and what I was thinking at each step.
I really appreciate all of the kind comments -- thank you so much!
Mike Demana
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Excellent work :-*
They are coming out really well. And considering you've managed all the intricate hand painted fabrics, at a rate of knots too boot 8)
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The first of three batches of eight archers from Gripping Beast
Much to my surprise, the bagged army I purchased last fall at the flea market has 24 archers -- not 12. So, I decided to do them in three batches of eight. Here's the first batch of eight. They are 28mm Gripping Beast. Mostly one pose because by painting all the same pose at the same time I can ensure they're all different.
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Horror of horrors, I had to super glue these guys' hands to their wrists! Read about my super glue challenged opinions on my blog entry
Speaking of which, I tried to make these a little less fancy than the Andalusian spearmen and cavalrymen from the previous batches. I figure the levy can't afford the best fabrics that their wealthier brethren can. Check out my post on my Lead Legionaries blog for lot more photos:
http://leadlegionaries.blogspot.com/2020/08/moorish-archers-first-batch.html
And thanks for all the kind comments!
Mike Demana
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Fab work :-*
I think your overall ability to get the patterns on the fabrics just right is definitely improving. Less can me more :)
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My second batch of Andalusian Cavalry - 28mm Gripping Beast
Getting ready for the start of the school year certainly has slowed down my progress a tad on my Saga Moorish army. I have to admit that I was a bit overwhelmed by painting my previous batch of cavalry. Eight mounted figures is just a really big chunk of figures to do at once (for me, at least). I have normally worked in smaller batches so I can be motivated by seeing regular progress.
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One of my favorite figures - both horse and rider - from this latest batch
So, I dropped it down to six figures at a time and things seemed to go much easier. I paint the horses first, then the riders separately from their mounts. In the past, I've epoxied the riders onto the mounts before painting, but with these Andalusians, I guess I want to be able to twist and turn the figure from every angle to do their robe patterns. Thus, the change in methods.
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Three more mounted warriors in my Saga Moorish army
I tried out a new robe "floral" pattern this time and am pretty happy with how it turned out. Check out my Lead Legionaries blog for LOTS more photos. I have individual shots of each of the six minis, plus group shots. Link is here:
http://leadlegionaries.blogspot.com/2020/08/moorish-cavalry-rides-again-2nd-batch.html
To access the army page with all of my posts for the Moors, including the first batch of cavalry and the spearmen and archers, click here:
http://leadlegionaries.blogspot.com/search/label/Moors%20Saga%20army
Thanks for checking out my painting, and I appreciate the kind comments.
Mike Demana
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Mike,
More excellent figures painted.
Outstanding.
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My Moorish general and his pet cheetah encourage his Moors to advance
Well, it has been quite some time since I posted here on LAF! Once school started, I found that teaching online meant that I had to re-adapt every single lesson to a virtual format. This workload kept me buried till Christmas break. During that time, I forged ahead and got my lessons planned two weeks ahead of time. I'm happy to say I've been able to keep that up so far, in 2021.
So, have I been doing any painting during that time? Surprisingly, yes! I managed to finish off the Moorish Saga army a little over a month back. So, step one will be to post the pics of the rest of the army. Unfortunately, the second surge in COVID meant that our twice-monthly Saga game days had to be put on hold. However, with the vaccines filtering down to more and more of the people here in the US, hopefully that will change soon!
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What else have I done in the meantime? I actually started a podcast talking about Saga. I interview one of our Saga folks here in our Ohio group each episode. It's gone over quite well, and I am releasing a new episode about every two weeks. Here's the link on Spotify:
https://open.spotify.com/show/0DjPOldhAAzWU2lCRu1zLZ
In the meantime, I wanted to say Hi and let folks know that I am still alive. Expect lots more pictures soon...!
Mike Demana
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Time for pictures of the rest of the army!
2nd Batch of Moorish archers
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I have 24 total archers to paint up in this army, though I doubt if I would actually ever use all of them in a 6-point game of Saga!
Armored Moorish Cavalry
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I really liked how this batch of six figures turned out. As I have mentioned in my Lead Legionaries blog posts about this army (http://leadlegionaries.blogspot.com/), this army really reaffirmed my belief in my own painting skills. In the year or two prior to this army, I honestly thought that I had "lost it" -- and that my best painting days were receding quickly behind me in the rear view mirror. However, through patience, the right subject, and using my lighted magnifier attached to my painting desk, I have been reborn, so to speak. lol
A note for how I will use these figs for Saga: I actually intend to have only two units of 6 mounted hearthguard with javelins for my mounted force. So, I tend to mix these figures with the earlier two batches of unarmored ones for my units. Maybe one day I'll toss in some mounted warriors, too, but that would mean painting more troops. :o
Last of the archers
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Moorish Warlord Command Stand
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(https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-YWdP-j-kzO4/X6CzNxHkAOI/AAAAAAAAEKQ/zmr6mOksVvM1z8503UxKc7ncqrQzMRQ7gCLcBGAsYHQ/w524-h640/MoorWarlord_R3Qtr.jpg)
So, here he is: Majik ibn Battuta al-Waqaa, the warlord of my Moorish Saga warband. I love to put a standard bearer and "pet" on the bases of my Saga warlords. For the Moors, though, I wanted to do something different. Dogs are not exactly as loved in Middle Eastern culture as they are here, so I took a look through my unpainted 28mm animals. I saw this 25mm Iron Wind Metals big cat and immediately thought, "Cheetah!" After all, cheetahs WERE semi-domesticated in North Africa, Egypt, etc. So, "Scirocco" accompanies Majik into battle!
I was so happy how this warlord base came out that I immediately adopted it for my Saga Ohio logo, as you saw in my last post.
Anyway, next up, I'll post some links to battle reports on my Lead Legionaries blog. For more indepth talk about how I painted these guys and such, please visit my blog!
Mike Demana