The Viking Horde...

The Viking Horde grows ever stronger!

Thought I would post a couple of pics after I dug out all my Vikings / Saxons / Dark Age Villagers etc to see what I had.

I was surprised to find I now have over one hundred and twenty painted Vikings! These are mainly Foundry but there are a mix of Artizan, Gripping Beast and Black Tree too.

Above we have the proud leaders of this horde - the old man, Thoruiv 'the Flatulent' and his eldest sons Jarl Ragnar (on the left) and Jarl Grim (on the right). In the background are the berserker Rurik 'the Restless', Sonja 'Queen of the Hill' and 'Big' Bergfinn, brother of the now deceased Bergthor.

Here we have Brother Thomas and some dogs leading some local down-trodden villagers and below are Kraki, Gudrød the Hunter, with Ingulbjörn behind them and the insane old berserker Folkmar in the foreground.

Next is a pic of Thoruiv and his 'berserker' personal guard, with Rurik and Folkmar.

Lastly, a shot of the entire horde including one hundred and twenty plus Vikings, seventy 'Saxons' and twenty odd villager types.

On the workbench, I still have about another twenty Vikings in progress, plus the original batch of villagers and animals that I never finished! Once these are done I also have about another seventy or so unpainted Vikings. As I only ever really intended to play skirmish games I doubt they will get painted up in the near future as I have plenty to occupy my time with Doctor Who and 7TV stuff...see my Level 2 blog.

Crazed Naked Berserkers!

Berserkers, so prominent in Hrolf's Saga, are the remnants in Christian times of older stories. In pre-Christian Scandinavia, berserkers seem to have been members of cults connected with Odin in his capacity as god of warriors. Snorri Sturluson in Ynglinga Saga, recalling numerous elements of ancient lore, describes Odin's warriors in this way:

His men went to battle without armor and acted like mad dogs or wolves. They bit into their shields and were as strong as bears or bulls. They killed men, but neither fire nor iron harmed them. This madness is called berserker-fury.

The berserkers of the saga, who often appear as the core of the king's warband, are at times reminiscent of the retinue of warriors surrounding Odin and may ultimately derive from ancient bear cults. Debate has centered on the meaning of the word itself. Berserker could mean "bare shirt," that is, naked; berserkers, as a mark of ferocity and invincibility, are said to have fought without needing armor. The word, however, may also mean "bear-shirt," reflective of the shape and nature of the bear assumed by these warriors. More literally, it may refer to protective bearskins that such warriors may have worn into battle. When the "berserker rage" was upon him, a berserker was thought of as a sort of "were-bear" (or werewolf), part man, part beast, who was neither fully human nor fully animal. Although not specifically so called, Bodvar Bjarki is a berserker of sorts. He appears at Hrolf's final battle in the form of a huge bear, invulnerable to weapons. In both his invulnerability and his ability to change shape, Bodvar also displays preternatural abilities resembling those of Odinic champions.

The Úlfhéðnar / Ulfhednar (singular Úlfhéðinn), mentioned in the Vatnsdœla saga, Haraldskvæði and the Völsunga saga, were said to wear the pelt of a wolf when they entered battle. Úlfhéðnar are sometimes described as Odin's special warriors, with the pelt from a wolf and a spear as distinguishing features.

Here is a small group of crazy, pumped up and naked berserkers...viewers easily offended should look away now!

Ulfhednar Skeggi and his men prepare for battle!

Figures are from Black Tree Designs.

Dark Age Villagers.

Rob (GM) has finished the painting commission for me of the selection of Dark Age villagers by Black Tree Design and Trent Miniatures so I thought I would put up a few pics of his excellent work. I still haven't quite finished all of my other villagers but a some point I will post a pic of the whole set up!

First up is Lady Angarad of St. Osyth, daughter of Ealdorman Godric.

Lady Angarad.

Next is Lady Angarad and her family, Ealdorman Godric and his wife Mildrith, uncle (and village blacksmith) Cynred and brother Hunberht.

Cynred, Angarad, Hunberht, Mildrith and Ealdorman Godric. 

Here we have Osbeorth, a local farmer and his family, wife Inga, sons Tohrwulf and Sibbi, daughters Waerburh and Bebbe.

Inga, Tohrwulf, Osbeorth, Waerburh and Bebbe, Sibbi.

A picture of the villagers together.

The villagers gather outside the Ealdormans house.

The next pictures are of the local druid Cadwallon and some slaves captured from a rival village.

The gathering at the stones of Crocky Grove.

The captives under guard.

Cadwallon and Frithegith prepare a hapless 'tribute'..

Stigath, Frithegith and Cadwallon.

A close up of Frithegith and Cadwallon.

Sorry looking captives wonder of their fate...

Next are some 'casualty' figures. Various injured and dead.

Ouch.

Lastly as shot of all the miniatures together.

Figures are all 'Ancients' from Black Tree Design apart from Lady Angarad who is actually the Trent Miniatures Maid Marian figure sculpted by Mark Copplestone.

All figures painted by Rob A aka GM.

Commission Update.

Have been a bit behind on everything lately, my daughter was ill in hospital for close to two weeks.  She's up and well now so I thought I'd better get back to our hosts painting request. Here's the latest Mark.

Commission.

I have never considered myself a professional painter but I have on occasion been thought highly enough of to represent both Ral Partha and Grenadier at Gen Con (yes that was donkeys years ago down in Butlins) and once in a while someone says paint me some figures and I'll give you lots of money. Well I need the money what more can I say. Recently that person was the writer of this blog and I am about a third of the way through his job.

I'm not going to start giving painting tips but I though just to show progress on his figures a little photo diary of the work to date might be of interest especially as my Saxon archers seem to have been so well accepted.

As received.

Basing.

Undercoat.

Base Flesh.

Fleshing out Flesh.

Experimenting with base colours.

 

Hey! Is that Crazy Gun Stacks moonlighting in Asgard?

I should point out that due to time constraints on my part one of the stipulations of me doing anything was that it was not too involved. So the figures are simple no fuss wargaming standard fair with simple no fuss mounting.

Rob.

Workbench Update - The Black Monks of Glastonbury.

Not a lot done lately but finally made a start on the Redoubt monks. Whilst browsing various figure manufacturers to add to the lead mountain I found yet more monks to add to the growing congregation!

Brother Thomas (on the right) and the newly arrived Brother Cuthbert lead the monks in prayer.

The new recruits joining the Redoubt monks are the 'Brothers of Shrewsbury Abbey' from the Black Tree Design Feudal Characters range. They are Brother Cuthbert and the three from the front row in the middle. They are really nice sculpts and could pass in pretty much any period.

 Cardinal Bertrand and the monks.

So far I have only managed to base them and get the basic flesh done but they looked so characterful I couldn't help take a couple of pictures! Cardinal Bertrand is probably dressed slightly too late for the dark ages period we are setting out games in but I thought I might as well paint him up too as I was working on the rest. With the black undercoat they currently look a little like a group of particularly serious Benedictine monks. Brother Thomas looks much like a Franciscan friar in his brown robes. This of course made me think of the classic book/film 'The Name of the Rose.'

Brother Thomas investigates the murder of Brother Adelmo whilst the horrified monks look on...

The story takes place in Northern Italy, during the early 14th Century A.D. Franciscan monk William of Baskerville and his novice Adso of Melk (narrating as an old man) arrive at a Benedictine abbey where a mysterious death has occurred ahead of an important theological Church conference. William, known for his deductive and analytic mind, confronts the worried Abbot and gains permission to investigate the death – a young illuminator appears to have committed suicide. Over the next few days, several other bizarre deaths occur, and the two gradually discover that everything is not what it seems in the abbey.

Diabolic? Murder at the Abbey!

The title of this blog entry comes from an old Ars Magica supplement about the famous Glastonbury Abbey, a house of the black robed Benedictines since Saint Dunstan instituted it in the tenth century. The monks have fallen to diabolic corruption that threatens to overwhelm them all.