Last year I fell for Saga. After some pondering I had a very convincing talk with Alex Buchel on Crisis 2013 and bought the rules as well as the Viking starter warband and a set of dice. Finally I finished enough figures to play small 4 pt. games and I would like to present my humble results here.
I titled the topic cautiously "first chapter" since there are at least two other warbands to follow: Steppe Nomands and Normans / Early Crusaders.
But first for the Vikings and their bold leader:
Gudmund the Dauntless
(http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-hUpXyS8blAE/UyfaYkEFsLI/AAAAAAAACYM/SnA_7me0IHg/s1600/warlord01.JPG)
The figure is a metal one from Gripping Beast's nice SAGA range. Although some of the older figures look a bit stiff I like this warlord very much. He looks very dynamic and eager. There are two tiny conversions I made: I changed the hand to a more detailed plastic one and I added a shield with additional spears to have him look even more dangerous and daring. Absolutely outstandingly sculpted is his face which makes it easy to bring out some expression.
(http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-NF12eNWMCOY/UyfaYmEzdFI/AAAAAAAACYQ/GCb64ItLfCE/s1600/warlord02.JPG)
I painted the figures with Vallejo Model Colours and shaded them with Armypainter Quickshade (Dark Tone). The fine artworks on the shield are decals from Stephen Hales' Little Big Men Studios, but for the first time I dared to paint some freehand embroidery on the cloak. I used brownish and yellowish colours to create an idea of embroided Viking runes.
There are some larger pictures of Gudmund and some facts about the story that inspired me on my blog. Feel free to have a look there:Link here (http://montys-caravan.blogspot.de/2014/03/last-stand-gudmund-dauntless-inspired.html)
During the next weeks I'll present some other units from this warband in case that you like my humble work. I appreciate any comment. ;)
Main Updates:
- Hirdmen on page 2 --> Here (http://leadadventureforum.com/index.php?topic=67700.msg830785#msg830785).
Next for the Hirdmen...
With my Saga starter box came two units of hearthguard. One with usual hirdmen and one with a couple of berserkers. Actually I painted them before the warlord but I found it more logical to present them after their leader...
Here we go:
(http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-kn5DUbKjeR8/UxsGOt7xwoI/AAAAAAAACXc/QlSQiBNx99I/s1600/saga_hird_01.jpg)
The miniatures are by Gripping Beast and belong to their nice range of Saga figures. Actually I like them a lot although the sculpts are slightly old-fashioned. They are rather dynamic and have excellently detailed faces. Their hands are a bit tricky because the weapons have to be glued inside. On the one hand that seems a bit unfirm but on the other hand it offers the chance to equip the guys individually. As Hirdmen they are kind of elite warriors and so I wanted to have them different from the Bondi which are mostly equipped with spears so I gave them swords and a two-handed axe.
(http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-PK0YUICou1E/UxsHomZp0RI/AAAAAAAACX8/YK7ojrx4Uc8/s1600/saga_hird_05.jpg)
Very exciting to paint were the faces of the figures. They've been sculpted with a lot of expression and fine detail in them. So it wasn't too hard to work out the eyes, the beards their hair. The tunics are rather plain so for the gifted painter they present lots of space for freehand sketches. I didn’t dare to experiment too much there so I left it at some careful braids in contrasting colours. The result really encourages me to try more patterns from now on.
As usual I painted the figures with Vallejo Model Colours and shaded them with Armypainter Quickshade (Dark Tone). The fine artworks on the shield are decals from Stephen Hales' Little Big Men Studios. For the bases I used my habitual combination of sand, static grass and tufts.
On the blog there are some more detail pictures of the boys. If interested then look here (http://montys-caravan.blogspot.de/2014/03/saga-hearthguard-viking-hirdmen.html).