Koyote's SAGA Moors & Mutatawwi'a

[Koyote]

Now that Adepticon SAGA tournaments are segregated by source books, if one wants to play in multiple Adepticon SAGA tournaments one must either bring multiple warbands or a single warband that can be played using rules from different source books.  Since I travel to Adepticon by air, that former option is much less appealing, so my next Adepticon warband will be Moors.  This will allow me to play in the Age of Crusades tournament as Moors, in the Age of Vikings tournament as Umayyads (early Moors), and in the Age of Magic tournament (you can follow my AoM Desert Nomads HERE by scrolling down to the last post of the page).



I want my Moors to represent the Berber/Tuareg elements that invaded and occupied Iberia.  As such, they will wear the distinctive Tuareg blue/indigo garments.  And while I do dearly love the Little Big Men Studio's shield transfers, I'm going to pass on them this time around in favor simple leather shields of the desert nomads.  With this same principle in mind, I'm going to pass on the decorative and sometimes very ornate aljubas (robes) and stick to solid colors, at least for my rank and file.  I've also decided to take some liberties with my Berber's skin color, and paint it a bit darker to represent Tuareg's with more Sub-Saharan blood.

I am really struggling to find just the right recipe for blue.  The dark blue paints that I've used thus far all seem to dry with a semi-gloss finish.  If I can't find the right paint or combinations of paint and wash, I may end up hand painting blue parts with a matte varnish.

Here's my first test model.  The photo quality is quite poor, but it gives you the basic idea of what my rank and file troops will look like.  I repainted the blue on this model 3 times, and I still don't care for it, so this model (sans the shield) is currently sitting in a jar of Simple Green.  Back to the drawing board.

[Koyote]

I'm much happier with this recipe.  The blue is Army Painter's Deep Blue, highlighted with a mixture of Deep Blue and Army Painter's Griffon Blue.

I added a light drybrush of GW's Tallarn Sand around the bottom of the robes to made the robe edges look dusty and a bit worn. 

[von Lucky]

I like this blue, and will follow with interest.

[Harry Faversham]

By Jove, I think he's got it!

 

[Atheling]

Great stuff  .

As far as blues go there is a lot of choice.

My preference is to try to use Vallejo as they are very matt when applied (unless you use their gloss paints!!) and they have an excellent selection of very dark blues that you can lighten up with say, Ivory or any other light colour that doesn't make the blue veer towards a green hue. I tend to avoid using white as it gives too stark a look as you lighten up the layers.

[Koyote]

I've started work 'gussying up' my Moors' bases.  I've added rocks, skulls, bones, and some scorpions from Black Cat Bases' Small Animal model line. Of course, I still need to add sand.

I've read that the Moors used drums for their psychological effect, so along with a standard and a unit leader, I've included a drummer in each of my units of spearmen.



Black Cat Bases' scorpion sprue.



I'm having second thoughts on my choice of shields.  The Artizan Design hide shields are quite nice, but they are rather large and kind of bland.  I ordered Footsore Miniatures' Arab Truncated Teardrop Shield pack, along with the accompanying Little Big Men Studio's decals.  I like proportions of the Footsore shields better and the decals that I selected aren't too flashy, so they fit my Tuareg/Berber theme well enough.





GB's Arab Spearmen kit doesn't include enough heads wrapped in a tagelmust (the long scarf used as a turban and veil) for both units of spearmen, so for the unit of spearmen pictured on the left, I'm going to use greenstuff to sculpt a length of scarf that hangs from the sides of their helmets, similar to model pictured below.  I'll likely do the same with my cavalry models that aren't wearing a tagelmust.

[von Lucky]

New shield option seems sensible. (I like reading about your overall thought processes.)

[Koyote]

The scarves turned out pretty good.  I think they add a lot to the models.

[Breazer]

They sure do. I wish i was this good with greenstuff... it always looks so crisp when you do it. How did you master that?

[jamopower]

Really nice update on those models. The neck is surely a weak spot in those models and this mitigates it quite well.

[Atheling]

Great stuff.

The one thing I always feel when I see someone going to the extent of doing conversions is passion 

With the new Baron's War range coming out soon I'm sorely tempted to try some mid-Reconquista modelling myself.

[Deserter]

These look gorgeous - the test mini is top notch and the Black Cat Bases sprue is a brilliant touch.

Your posts are always mega inspiring!

[Koyote]

They sure do. I wish i was this good with greenstuff... it always looks so crisp when you do it. How did you master that?

Thanks.

I'm self taught and my sculpting skills are fairly modest.  I can do belts and straps and patch damaged bits of models, but I'm light years away from being a proper sculptor.  What I have learned is to use my fingers and metal tools to form the basic shapes and then to use clay shapers to refine the shapes and to smooth the surfaces.  The clay shaper I get the most use out of is the 'cup round'.

[syrinx0]

Another Saga force? You are a modeling machine! Looking forward to more inspirational pictures of this force.

[Atheling]

Wow! They are quite large clay shapers.... have you tired using the black tipped ones? They are a smaller size and the softer tip so I personally find them easier to control the putty with.

https://www.google.com/url?sa=i&url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.dickblick.com%2Fproducts%2Froyal-sovereign-clay-shaper-sets%2F&psig=AOvVaw0eSWxlXAg5e4PgIxQ0358v&ust=1570171118410000&source=images&cd=vfe&ved=0CAIQjRxqFwoTCLCykbG9_-QCFQAAAAAdAAAAABAE

Not that there's anything at all wrong with the work you've done!!