Koyote's SAGA Pagan Rus (start on page 9)

[Ogrob]

Nice, be interesting to see what you end up with. The dacian kit is on my "to get" list for converting as well.

[.:Gunslinger:.]

Sounds very promising! Maybe you can add some of the Victrix Viking Heads onto the Dacians, some ogmf them look suitably eastern.

[aircav]

This is great, I’ve been hoping for the resurrection of this thread. Can’t wait to see where you go with it now.

[Grumpy Gnome]

A pleasing resurrection.

[Koyote]

Sounds very promising! Maybe you can add some of the Victrix Viking Heads onto the Dacians, some ogmf them look suitably eastern.

This is a very good idea.

Now that I've had some time to reanalyze the PR's battle board, I realize that doesn't really support Levy that well (I wish Khagan worked on Levy), so I may field only one unit of Levy.  Consequently, this means that I will likely be adding another unit of Warriors.

My original plan was to represent one unit of Warriors as shieldmaidens and a second unit as Swedes, and the Slavs would be relegated to Levy only.  Now I think I'll create a unit of Warrior Slavs to represent the integration and intermarrying of the Swedes and Slavs.  To make the Slav Warriors I will use the Dacian bodies and a mix of Dacian and Viking heads and weapons. I may use greeenstuff to add some chainmail aventails and pointy helmets.  I want to do something special with their shields as well.  I may use a different design or perhaps just different motifs.

To further "integrate" my warband and strengthen its eastern European appearance, I think I'll use V&V's Pagan Rus and Pagan Rus 2 kits to serve as my Hearthguard.



If you haven't figured it out yet, building a warband (e.g., planning, developing themes/stories, acquiring just the right models, and converting models) is by far, my favorite aspect of the hobby.  I enjoy it more than painting or even playing the game. It's not the list building aspect I enjoy (this isn't 40K), but rather I'm referring to model selection and conversion.

[aircav]

Don’t forget Drabants Pagan Rus.

[Koyote]

Don’t forget Drabants Pagan Rus.

I bought 4 or 5 boxes of Drabant Vikings back in 2017 or 2018.  They are beautiful miniatures, but compared to other Viking model lines they look kinda weedy, and their arms short and stubby.



Plus they have tiny little...



I think they were sculpted to be true scale 25mm. 


Where is "K'Boro"?

[aircav]

Plus they have tiny little...



I think they were sculpted to be true scale 25mm. 


Where is "K'Boro"?

That always cracks me up when the Kids watch TT Go

Knaresborough, North Yorkshire. U.K.

[Koyote]

That always cracks me up when the Kids watch TT Go

Knaresborough, North Yorkshire. U.K.

If you like Drabant’s Vikings and have a use for them, then you can have mine. I feel bad for the poor little fellas, sitting on my shelf, in their boxes, unassembled and unused. They are fine miniatures. They deserve to be out there raiding and pillaging.

PM me your address and I’ll mail them to you. They are all in their original packing and boxes.

[syrinx0]

Excellent.  Another Koyote Saga build thread is live.  I hate converting but I do like seeing what others come up with. 

[Koyote]

To further "integrate" my warband and strengthen its eastern European appearance, I think I'll use V&V's Pagan Rus and Pagan Rus 2 kits to serve as my Hearthguard.

When compared to Victrix Vikings, the V&V Pagan Rus are a bit on the small side. They are a bit shorter, skinnier, and not as broad in the chest.  This came as a surprise to me because the V&V Vikings are a bit taller and beefier than the Victrix Vikings.  Puny Hearthguard simply won't due, so it's back to my original plan.




Below is what I've assembled for my "Swede" Hearthguard.  To add more flavor to the unit, I will likely swap out another model or two with additional character models.  I will add shields when I paint the models.




Here's what I've assembled for my unit of Swede Warriors.  The lack of chainmail will identify this unit as Warriors  The big guy with the two axes is from V&V's Vikings 4 kit.  Once again, I'll add shields when I paint the models.




Here's my second unit of Swede Warriors.  It's composed of Brother Vinni's amazing shieldmaiden models.




The model on the right will be my Warlord. It's a Brother Vinni Viking Warlord. The model is almost a head taller than the V&V Vikings, but since he's my Warlord, it seems fitting. 

The model on the left will be the model that I use as a Brute for the Book of Battles Old Feud scenario.  The model from V&V's Vikings 4 kit. I need to rearm him with a heavy weapon.

The model in the center is a V&V Scald mini.  It will be used as a Mystic, my fall back selection for the Old Feud scenario.




Once my Victrix Dacians arrive, I will build my Slav javelin Levy and a third unit of Warriors (also Slavs).

I'm going to break from tradition, and mount my Pagan Rus won Autumn themed bases.  I will reserve the snow flocking for the mini-diorama counters that I'm designing for my Biting Cold, Blizzard, and Long Winter Saga abilities.

Speaking of mini-dioramas, I also need to rebase the Scandinavian and Slavic folklore themed baggage markers that I originally built in 2018 (see p.2 & p.3 of this thread).  They are currently on 60mm rounds.  If I put them on 40mm rounds I can use them as objective markers -which tend to see more use than baggage markers.

[Ogrob]

Nice builds as always. Those V&V vikings are really massive! My V&V models (Irish, Varangians, HYW) all look closer to the size of those pagan rus.

[Koyote]

Here's another size comparison photo.

From left to right: V&V Viking, Brother Vinni Axemaiden, V&V Pagan Rus, Victrix Viking, Brother Vinni Viking Warlord

[batu]

Thanks for the comparison. Very informativ!

[Koyote]

Here’s my first attempt to Pagan-Rusify a Victrix Viking. I added a pointy bit to the top of the helmet and fur trim. I’m not happy with the trim. It should be a bit thinner and shouldn’t stick out quite so far.