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.

Viking Warrior.

First Viking Warrior done for a while. More to come...

Ingulbjörn prepares for battle!

Figure is a Foundry Viking.

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.

Skirmish at Thorringhall Wood.

After recovering from his injuries, Jarl Ragnar and his faithful bodyguard Rurik retreated from Arlesford to set up camp in Thorringhall Wood. Here they hoped to lick their wounds and await reinforcements from Ragnars brother Otrygg.

Whilst passing through the warband stumble across a hamlet in a clearing in the trees - as they approach the outskirts they see an ancient shrine to the battle slain, unaware that they have already been spotted and followed by the Saxon militia of Thorrington (near Alresford) under the command of ageing Ealdorman Tunberht.

View of the hamlet from the North showing the Church of Saint Harry Harrison.

View from the East with Ealdorman Tunberht's abode.

View from the South and Jarl Ragnar's approach.

The old pagan worship site of Jymdegrizz. A tribute to the dead.

Ealdorman Tunberht assembles his men.

Ragnar approaches the hamlet with Rurik in the background.

The Saxons make slow progress...

...and Ragnars drunken thrall cautiously move alongside the pathway...

...as his bondi move through the edge of the forest with Ruriks beserkers in tow.

The Saxon ceorl move through the hamlet.

After sporadic bowfire between the sides, neither seems willing to commit to battle.

A face off begins across the hamlet as Rurik leads his men to the Saxons flank.

Ruriks beserkers and Tunberhts huscarl rain blows upon one another...

...and Rurik lets out a bellow as he cuts down Ealdorman Tunberht!

The Saxon forces looked on in horror as their leader fell to the ground - within moments they began to flee into the surrounding woods.

Ragnar congratulated Rurik on the well won victory. The warband were organised and guards posted. Tonight his men would sleep under thatched roof and dine on pork belly!

Forces

Viking Raiders (Rob)
Jarl Ragnar
1 unit of Hirdmen (4 x Hearthguard)
1 unit of Beserkers (4 x Hearthguard)
1 unit of Bondi (8 x Warriors)
1 unit of Thrall (12 x Levy)

Anglo-Saxon Defenders (ZM)
Ealdorman Tunberht
1 unit of Huscarl (4 x Hearthguard)
1 unit of Huscarl (4 x Hearthguard)
1 unit of Ceorl (8 x Warriors)
1 unit of Gebur (12 x Levy)

We fought this quick Saga battle that ultimately only lasted four turns! We played the '"Clash of Warlords" scenario with 4 point warbands.

Despite continuously moving forward to meet his adversary ZM had trouble getting his Saxon levy into the action and they spent most of the game crossing the fences in the hamlet. Robs viking raiders attempted a flanking attack but ultimately withdrew when faced by the relentless movement towards them of the Saxons. Rob began to retreat and ZM followed and gave a good chase but neither side was really able to commit to battle. After some moving too-and-fro and some sporadic bow fire causing some casualties, Rob managed to get his beserkers (under Rurik the Restless) to move to the Saxons exposed flank. Spotting this, ZM gave a manic charge into the oncoming beserkers with a handful of his Huscarl. In the ensuing combat, the beserkers came out on top and poor Tunberht was cut to pieces despite the heroic sacrifice of two of his bodyguard, ending the game. This was ZM's first game of Saga and to be honest he fared well despite being unable to use many of the abilities on his battleboard. Rob had learned from our first encounter and used the beserkers to good effect (unlike I had, where they were frustratingly held on the wrong side of the river!) and the flanking attack drew ZM and his best troops to fight. The dice-gods were with him today!

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.