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

[syrinx0]

As part of a painted unit on the battlefield - he will look great. Having some variation in equipment isn't all bad. Certainly better than anything I would turnout.

[Ogrob]

Looks excellent to me. Should look good next to the fur trimmed hats.

[Koyote]

Here's my first six Pagan Rus Levy with javelins.

Victrix Dacian bodies, heads, and arms, Footsore shields, and Gripping Beast wire spears. The spears are a few years old. Back when GB’s supplier gave a sh!t about the quality of the wire spears and formed leaf shaped heads, rather than simply flattening one end and forming a crude, triangular tip.

[Knight-Captain Tyr]

Great work as ever. Been a big inspiration to my own Pagan Rus force, so thanks for sharing.

[.:Gunslinger:.]

Fantastic work! Love how these different sets/bitz work togetjer, the Dacian bodies are a perfect choice! 

[Koyote]

@Knight-Captain Tyr:  Thanks.  I am a HUGE fan of your work in the Fantasy forum.  I look forward to see what direction you take your Pagan Rus.

@.:Gunslinger:.: Long days and pleasant nights, gunslinger.  The Viking and Dacian Victrix kits are similar in scale and compatible to a degree.  The problem that I've run into is that most of the arms on the Viking sprue are half arms, because the bodies include shoulders and upper arms, whereas most of the Dacian arms are full arms, because the bodies don't include shoulder or arms.  For the levy, this isn't an issue because I'm using all Dacian bodies and arms, but this has caused me to rethink how I am going to kitbash my Slavic warrior unit.

Viking (left) Dacian (right)

[Koyote]

The Pagan Rus have three advanced abilities (The Long Winter, Biting Cold, and Blizzard) that remain in effect during one or more player's turn, and two of these abilities target specific units.  These abilities, particularly the ones that target specific units, warrant a token to remind the players of the targeted unit and the Saga abilities' effect.

A few years ago I purchased blue acrylic markers, custom ordered from LITKO, for the Blizzard and Biting Cold abilities. I want to upgrade these markers by building mini-diorama markers.  However, while each ability produces a different effect, thematically, all three abilities are seemingly caused by same thing, freezing temperatures and snow storms. When designing dioramas to portray the different effects this causes a problem.  How does one clearly visually distinguish between abilities that cause similar impediments due to inclement weather?

The simplest solution is print the Saga ability's name on each token.  Below are custom 40mm rounds I ordered from a 3D printer who sells on Etsy, as well as the 25mm LITKO markers mentioned above. On each 40mm I will build a mini-diorama using snow basing and either a fallen or hindered enemy warrior.  r

[Koyote]

Below is another WIP photo of the levy.  I still need to add melee weapons to their belts (small axes or knives). 




Here's a WIP shot of my Slavic warriors.  Aside from fella in armor, the rest don't look particularly Slavic, so the plan is to distinguish them from my Swedish warriors by equipping them with rectangular or teardrop shaped shields.  Like my Slavic levy, most of them will wear white tunics, but they will have fancier trim and pants.

[.:Gunslinger:.]

Brilliant work on those levies, the fur hats really sell the deal about these being more slavic or 'eastern'.

I am really looking forward to seeing them painted ! Any ideas on colour scheme at this point ?

Love the fella in armour as well, are these Victrix bits? Especially the helmet?

[Koyote]

Brilliant work on those levies, the fur hats really sell the deal about these being more slavic or 'eastern'.

I am really looking forward to seeing them painted ! Any ideas on colour scheme at this point ?

Love the fella in armour as well, are these Victrix bits? Especially the helmet?

Thanks.

The Slavic levy and warriors will be distinguished by their white/off-white tunics.   Slavic warrior's tunic trim and pants will be 'fancier' than those of their levy counterparts. Overall, the Swede and Slavic units will be painted in brighter colors and patterns than I would not normally use on western Vikings.  This will give the minis a more "eastern" look and show better in the dim lighting of the Adepticon tournament halls.  I see lots of striped pants in my future.

As for the armored Slavic warrior, the body, arms, and cloak of are from the Victrix Dacian kit.  The head comes from Fireforge Miniatures' Medieval Russian Infantry kit.  I would have used more of these heads in my Pagan Rus warband, but the Russian Infantry heads are a bit small compared to the Victrix heads, and the detail of the casts isn't very sharp.  **Insert Ukrainian War joke here**

I will likely add fur trim to a number of the Slavic warrior helmets.

[Ogrob]

Love the builds. I may need to steal all these ideas.

[Mesh]

Great to see this project get revived. I really like to see different takes on similar projects. I especially like the vignettes, they really add something to the whole table.

[Koyote]

Love the builds. I may need to steal all these ideas.

That’s quite all right. I stole your idea to use the Boudica model from the Victrix chariot kit as a Viking shield maiden (see below).

In Saga, the Hearthguard represent the warband's elite warriors. Depending upon the warband and time period, the unit may be composed of veterans, household guard, nobles, the Warlord's kinsmen, etc. When thematically modeling a unit of Hearthguard, the faction's background can serve as guide whether the Hearthguard should be uniform in appearance, non-uniform, or something in between.

Like the Dark Age Vikings, the Dark Age Pagan Rus warband does not represent an army of uniformed, professional soldiers. Moreover, the Hearthguard isn't simply a unit of veterans, but rather it's a cohort of the Warlord's family members and hand-selected trusted retainers.  When I first assembled the models for my Hearthguard I built a unit of armored vikings and threw in a priest (Hothgothi?) for added flavor. Then as I thought about it more, I started swapping out models for more interesting characters, to better represent a motley band representing the Warlord's kinfolk, champions, and retainers.  The line-up hasn't been finalized yet, but this is where the unit stands today.

[syrinx0]

Looks like the family gatherings would be quite the affair from that group! 

[Koyote]

I've made some progress on my  Biting Cold, The Long Winter, and Blizzard tokens.  I've selected and converted the subject matter each vignette.  I still need to decide on basing design and whether that will affect the final position of each model.  Since each ability is presumably caused by freezing temperatures, snow, and wind, each base will be covered in snow flock.

The Biting Cold ability targets a single enemy unit and prevents it from activating again during the turn. To illustrate this I selected a model that is sitting down and a bit sprawled out.  It's a Gripping Beast, Late Roman casualty model. I replaced the model's flat top, brimless hat with a more generic conical helm with a nasal guard.  The wooden statue is a Scibor Slavic God objective marker.

The Long Winter ability has a table wide effect that limits all charges and shooting attacks to 6"distance. Here, the design concept is meant to be more symbolic than literal. 

Morozko is a supernatural being from Slavic myth. Some sources describe him a winter demon, others a god of frost and ice, still others a winter wizard. He was wise, but with a wicked temperament and was capable of freezing entire armies with the snap of his fingers. Over time he became Ded Moroz, also known as Grandfather Frost, a character from folklore who would aid the humble and hard working and freeze the selfish and lazy.  Finally, Ded Moroz morphed into Slavic Father Christmas/Santa Claus like character. Since his days as Ded Moroz he has been generally depicted as a white bearded man, wearing a long, fur lined coat and wearing a fur lined cap

The Norse have their own winter deity of sorts, Ullr, who is the god or demi-god, associated with winter, snow, hunting, archery, skiing, and duels. Like Morozko he's a big bearded guy who dresses in fur.  Unlike Slavic Santa who carries around a magic staff, Ullr is often depicted as being armed with a bow. I don’t believe that Ullr controlled the winter weather like Morozko, but instead Ullr's sphere of influence was winter travel and survival.

The model I chose for the The Long Winter token is Gripping Beast Pagan Rus Warbanner Bearer model. His long coat and Santa hat reminds me of Morozko/Ded Moroz and by adding a greenstuff beard, I strengthened the semblance. And then, by replacing his banner pole with bow, I transformed him into a Morozko(Slavic)/Ullr (Norse) mashup who is blowing a magical hunting horn to summon or announce the coming of the snow and icy winds of winter.

The Blizzard ability slows all units within 2" of the targeted friendly unit. To illustrate this I used models who appear to be struggling to move forward.  Here I used  Gripping Beast Viking casualty models. One is head down, using his spear to help him trod forward, into the wind. The other has tripped or simply fallen to his hands and knees.  Both are wishing they had dressed warmer for this battle.

Left to right: Biting Cold, The Long Winter, and Blizzard token.