Numidians for Saga: Age of Hannibal

The completed army

With a wave of enthusiasm following the release of Saga: Age of Hannibal I rushed out and bought a whole load of figures to make up several different armies. I finished the Gauls first (see my post from December last year), but while the Numidians were actually started before the Gauls it has taken me six months to get them finished. This was partly because I ended up buying a few more figures than intended - although following actual experience of playing with this universe on Tabletop Simulator I realise I'm going to need at least another elephant...
- Warlord
- 1 x Elephant
- 2 x Levy
- 6 x Warriors

This then is a short post with images of the completed army.

I find I have made up 9 points of troops as follows:

All figures are from  the excellent Victrix plastic figures range with the exception of the warlord. I replaced all the plastic spears with ones made from brass rod (method described here). In my view, Victrix spears are way too fragile for gaming without a lot of breakages happening. 

Basing was done by the usual method I use for desert terrain - textured with a mixture of filler, sharp sand, PVA glue and water, sprinkled over with very small stones followed by Chinchilla dust. Painted Crown Brown Sugar, highlighted Crown Biscuit - but with the addition of patches of War World Scenics Army Coarse Sand and some appropriate tufts from Gamers Grass. All figures are painted with Foundry paints.

Warlord, appropriately from Warlord Games

The warlord is the figure of Juba I of Numidia, appropriately from Warlord Miniatures. I would have converted one of the Victrix figures but this would have left me one man short of another unit! His horse is a bit thin compared to those from Victrix but even so this is a very nice figure. He's depicted with javelins (Numidian Warlords in Saga don't have javelins, but never mind). I gave him a plastic Victrix shield so tht he would better match the other troops, and replaced the javelin in his right hand with one made from brass rod, again to match the rest of the army.

One elephant (need one more...)

The elephant is a lovely model from Victrix. I added weight by filling the elephant body with plasticine on assembly. Shields added to the outside of the howdah were ones left over from a purchase of separate shields for use with my Iberians (still awaiting painting), bought from 1st Corps. 

Levy #1

Levy #2

While you can't beat transfers for shield designs, I wanted my figures to be similar enough to look good together, yet easily distinguished if separated into smaller units, so all the shields in the army are hand painted following some formulaic designs and a narrow range of colours. Using this method I have four designs for the levy (making up to four groups of six men), twelve for the warriors (allowing for twelve groups of four), and separate designs for the elephant crew and the warlord. Painting smaller numbers of the same design I have found also to be easier and quicker than bigger painting batches.

Warriors #1

Warriors #2

Warriors #3

Warriors #4

Warriors #5

Warriors #6

Victrix have done something really clever with these Numidian warriors which you probably won't notice until you put them beside other Victrix cavalry. These horses are smaller ponies, whihc in my opinion look spot on. Horse colours were chosen randomly based on advice on colours and expected proportions from reference books. I find if I am left to decide horse colours by myself I will get things wrong, so use Excel to help, with paint colours as advised by Kevin Dalimore in his excellent Foundry Painting and Modelling Guide book. This is particularly handy if like me you are colourblind. I intend to write a blog article about how I do this at some time in the future.

Looking forward to getting these chaps on the table soon!

Gauls for Saga: Age of Hannibal

Finally, my first faction for Saga: Age of Hannibal is completed. This is a very short post to show some pictures of the completed models. All are Foundry Miniatures painted with Foundry paints. 

General and two chariots

Six mounted hearthguard

Another six mounted hearthguard

Levy archers

Foot warriors

Saga - Age of Magic: The Challenge (9)

The Undead Legions

The completed army: (L-R) Titan, Scourge, Warriors and Hearthguard and Warlord

And more of them: (L-R) Black knight (mounted and foot options), Scourge #2, Warriors

My long-waited fifth faction completed for Saga: Age of Magic is at last completed. This faction has gone through various iterations in  preparation since my original concepts, in particular the mounted Hearthguard.

 

I'd originally thought this would be a nice and easy faction to get on the table, as I already had the Revenant army. One play test sorted that out though - no way was an army largely made of the Mindless (despite being possible) likely to work at all well. The list I came up with was:

 

Necromancer (warlord)

Black knight (mounted)

1 x 4 Hearthguard (mounted)

2 x 11 Warriors (skeletons)

2 x 11 Warriors (skeletons, bow)

1 x 20 Mindless

 

To make this, and to allow for variations on a theme, and to add in some optional extras that looked nice, what I ended up putting together was:

 

Necromancer

Black Knight (foot and mounted)

2 x 4 Hearthguard (mounted)

24 x Warriors (skeletons with spear and shield)

24 x Warriors (skeletons with bow)

Titan (giant mummy)

Scourge (wyvern)

Scourge (skeletal dragon)

 

The mindless are Revenants which I already posted about a while ago. I'm not repeating that here.

 

The necromancer

The necromancer warlord is an old Reaper figure previously used for roleplaying that I repainted and rebased.

 

The black knight (on and off his horse)

The foot version of this is what I believe to be an old Asgard miniatures (remember them?) figure which I altered the helmet of long ago. I changed his weapon for a double-headed chain mace duplicating the one used by the mounted chap, made him a cloak from green stuff and added a big sword.

 

The mounted model is a Kings of War revenant figure and horse, with head, weapon, cloak and shield from a Fireforge plastic knight, made good with green stuff. The horse pose was slightly changed and I added some Black Cat miniatures skulls to the base. The shield design was made to mimic the one of the foot version using green stuff.

 

Both figures painted black and highlighted with lighter stages and metallics using Foundry paints.

 

Mounted skeletal Hearthguard

I originally bought the Kings of War mounted revenants with the intent of making them my hearthguard, but the figures didn't sit well alongside the others and even with some head swaps and other conversions I wasn't happy with them. It's interesting how my opinion has changed with time - when I first discussed these I seemed quite happy with the old plan! At Hammerhead earlier this year I came across a chap who was selling some painted mounted skeletons which I suspect are Games Workshop figures - though I have no idea. These looked right and were well priced so I bought them (sadly there were only seven). The eighth one of these is a Eureka figure. He's slightly different but not enough to worry.

 

All figures were completely rebased and repainted. Their weapons were removed and replaced with spears made from brass rod to which I attached some nice spear heads from the Warlord Erehwon skeletons (see below). Some careful drilling was required. Their shields are ones I bought loose from 1st Corps.

 

Skeleton bone colour was made by painting the figure white and washing with sepia. Once that was dry I highlighted carefully with Vallejo Iraquian Sand.

 

The shield designs are transfers, see below.

Skeleton warriors with spear and shield

Skeleton warriors with bows

 

A closer shot of two of the warriors

The bulk of the army comprises skeleton warriors, with spear and shield or archers. After looking around at different manufacturers I opted finally for Warlord Games' Erehwon skeletons, and bought two boxes of them. Now these are lovely figures. But whoever decided that they should be made up of so many different component parts that are so difficult to be assembled together should be put up against the wall. Why are the feet not part of the legs? These are an absolute pain to put together and difficult to repair when they break as well, and despite the fact that they do loo lovely, I would not recommend them to anyone and would never put myself through the pain of assembling them again.

 

Because the feet are a separate component that attaches to the legs, and I intended to base them normally, I alo had to add small pieces of sprue between the bottom of the feet and the base - so one extra part. I based them all on 25mm repair washers to give them a bit more weight and used milliput on each to ensure they were firmly held in place.

 

Spears are made from 1mm brass rod in my usual way (hammer the end flat, trim with clippers, file to shape, cut spear to length). The shields are from 1st Corps. I do not like the shields that come with the Warlord figures. They're probably historically accurate proportions for Greek hoplite shields but they obscure the details of the figures because of their size. I suspect Harryhausen realised this as his skeleton warriors from Jason and the Argonauts and other classic films also have smaller shields - and this is the look I was going for. I realised after I'd bought them that these shields come in two types - one in a hoplon shape and one circular but with a central indent. If I'd known this when I bought them I would have bought two packets so as not to use this second design, although in the end it worked out fine.

 

The smaller shields meant that I had a bit of an issue finding sheild transfers that would fit, but after some trial and error I found that LBMS 1/72 hoplite designs fitted the hoplon shaped shield perfectly, and Xyston 15mm hoplite designs fitted into the indent of the other shield type. The transfers went on easily with the aid of some decal softener.

 

The shields were given the effect of age and verdigris using - very sparingly - Citadel technical paint Nihilakh Oxide. A brilliant paint with a name that is really difficult to remember, say and spell. I'll call it Verdigris. Despite their daft names, I'm incredibly impressed with Citadel technical paints. Highly recommended if you can remember what to ask for when you're in the shop.

 

Giant mummy - Titan

This figure was an old and very badly cast figure in my spares box that was looking very sorry for itself. Originally its fist was its raised right hand and in its left it wielded what appeared to be the forearm and claw of some kind of reptile which I suspect it was using as a sort of mace. I made him right handed, adding a more Egyptian style mace made from kebab stick and green stuff to his raised hand (so as to look more like he was taking the archetypal smiting pose of many a pharaoh) and removed the strange mace from his other hand, which I repaired with green stuff. To give the figure a sense of motion I added frayed bandages using strips of paper which I blended as best I could with the ones cast onto the figure. Painting hides many a sin here, but he turned out rather well in the end I think.

 

A pile of skulls, and a claw

The claw was repurposed as some sort of objective token or marker. I've no idea when I'll use it but it was a shame to throw it away. The pile of skulls was bought on impulse from Eureka miniatures. You never know when you will need a pile of skulls.

 

Scourge: wyvern

Another repurposed old role playing figure, repainted and rebased. I suspect this is a Reaper miniature. Very nice casting.

Scourge #2: Skeletal dragon 

I saw this chap online and had to buy him. A beautiful figure from Reaper miniatures.

 

The crypt

 The crypt (model originally from Debris of War) has actually been complete for some time but looking back at previous posts on this theme it seems I never posted a picture of it, so here it is.

 

Looking forward to playing some games now!

Saga: Age of Magic - The Challenge (8)

With all the extra available painting time during lockdown, it still surprises me how long it is taking to get this challenge done, but I'm glad to say that one more faction is now complete. After the Horde come the Masters of the Underearth.

Masters of the Underearth - the army

In my case, this list repurposes a lot of miscellaneous dwarf figures previously used for role playing. Clearly, I had far too many dwarves than anyone would ever need for that, but there you are. In fact, the last time I posted about this faction was - to my shame - just over a year ago. So definitely time to get them finished.

Here then are pictures of the units in the completed army, all ready for play.

C-in-C - front

C-in-C - rear

Some of you might recognise this fine fellow. He's the limited edition free figure that I received back in April 1988 with issue #100 of White Dwarf and represents the White Dwarf himself. I suppose that means he's been waiting to be painted for just over 32 years. Enough said about how long things sit around on the painting table. But that age considered, this really is an astonishingly good figure. Painted in a mix of Vallejo (for me, traditional) and Foundry (for me, new) paints. I am loving Foundry paint.

Sorcerer - front

Sorcerer - rear

The sorcerer is an old figure that just required a little touching up. He's actually supposed to be a gnome but I doubt if anyone will notice.

Gun dwarf #1 - front

Gun dwarf #1 - rear

I gave this West Wind dwarf a sniper's camouflaged cloak, although a blundebuss wouldn't be my choice of sniping weapon.  A particularly stylish figure which I like a lot.

Gun dwarf - front

Gun dwarf - rear

This berserker chap  - another West Wind figure, though converted to weild a pair of double barrelled pistols (scratchbuilt) - has his trousers painted in uniform, half blue of blue check, half red with yellow stripes. Because I wanted to challenge myself with this new Foundry paint. And yes, I actually impressed myself here. 

Crossbow dwarves

This unit of 12 crossbows are painted in the same colours of a mix of blue on blue checks and yellow stripes on red, with the occasional variation where they might have a cloak. The West Wind figures proved themselves beautiful to paint, with more detail on the casting revealed as each colour was applied. Very chunky for dwarves, though, especially alongside the short retro Citadel dwarf amongst them, front far right, who is possibly suffering from dwarf dwarfism (is that a thing?) Anyway, it all adds to the character of the unit.

Dwarves with heavy weapons

Multiple hearthguard with heavy weapons. Apart from one figure (front right), all these required was a little touching up and rebasing.

Dwarves with conventional weapons

And likewise, more hearthguard that required nothing more than a little touching up.

Mr Manticore

They don't need him to make up 8 points but Mr Manticore was a gorgeous old Reaper figure of mine that just deserved to be painted. And what a beautiful result. I may just have to adjust this list to include him now.

Mine entrances

And finally, the mine shafts turned out very well after a bit of work with the chains, painting and dry brushing. 

Overall, despite the time it has taken to get these done, I'm rather pleased with the end result. And hopefully after lockdown ends I'll be able to get them on the gaming table soon!

Saga: Romans and Britons

What with all the bad things about this coronavirus situation we all find ourselves in, there are a few upsides. One of these is that because I am working from home, not having to commute - hardly going outside at all, in fact - I have a lot more time available to work through my painting mountain. Inevitaby, perhaps, there is a long way to go, but I am making steady progress, and I'll hopefully be posting a bit more regularly here in the weeks ahead as a result.

Here, then, are figures for Romans and Britons for Saga: Age of Invasions. The figures are generally intechangeable between both armies. These have all been sitting around half-completed for several months so it's about time I got them finished. The foot were completed first, and it's only over the last week that I have finished off the mounted. The spears on all figures are made from brass rod.

British Hearthguard

Four more Hearthguard

These foot hearthguard are for use with Britons. West Wind figures. Shield designs are hand painted.

British Warriors or Late Roman Warriors/Levy

Eight more warriors

And more

And yet more

These 32 foot are suitable for use as four units of 8 Warriors for Romans or Britons, or as Roman Levy. If deployed as Levy there are enough to field three units, allowing for a Ballista to replace figures as specified in the rules. All are West Wind figures, and very nice they are too. Sheld designs are LBMS transfers.

The ballista and crew are Gripping Beast figures. The shield deign is hand painted.

Mounted Britons

My mounted troops for this army are a mish-mash of different manufacturers and they don't all match perfectly well as a result. The first (and my least favourite) are four Warlord Games figures (above). These are intended for use as Britons. Shield designs are hand painted.

More mounted Britons

Conversely, these four I like a lot; however, unfortunately I can't remember who the manufacturer is! They're slightly smaller than the others, but are lovely castings. I replaced the spear hands with sword hands from some plastic figures on the central two above so that they matched better as a unit.

Roman mounted Hearthguard

And more

And some more

The Roman mounted Hearthguard are all Curtey's Miniatures, and are painted in relatively uniform colours to match, with shields done with LBMS transfers. These are quite excellent figures and painted up beautifully,

Command

These three are command figures that can be used for either army. The central model is Curtey's Miniatures, but I can't remember where the other two came from. Shield designs are hand painted so as to match the Roman Hearthguard.

Looking forward to being able to play with these but it might be some time before that happens. For the time being, it's back to the painting table for me...