As mentioned before, I'm starting to collect a Age of Arthur Saxon army with a view to adding some GB plastic Thegns (when available) in order to make the army in to later Saxon horde suitable for taking on those fearsome Vikings (think Bernard Cornwell's "Alfred" series and you'll be about there). However, when collecting an army I also like to think about collecting a suitable opposing force so as to give easy access to historical match ups.
When I first considered collecting for Age of Arthur it was the Romano-British that caught my eye but having thoroughly reviewed the lists and talked with a few other players I feel that it may lead to a rather defensive mind-set. Since I'll be forming plenty of Shieldwalls with my later Saxons I fancied something a bit more dynamic. The British & Welsh Kingdoms (B&WK) lists meets this requirement quite nicely! I already have a small collection of GB and Artizan figures suitable for Teulu and Combrogi so they'll be the start of this army. These are now on the painting table and I'm really looking forward to painting them. As for the Saxons, well I haven't actually got any suitable figures as yet but once the B&WK figures are nearly done then I'll order a Duguth unit deal from GB. Those Early Saxon figures are splendid. In fact my B&WK figures would do nicely in the Saxon line, as page 96 of AoArt shows some of these figures (the armoured ones) in Saxon units. Such are the benefits of dark ages gaming.
Anyway, I have ordered a copy of Shieldwall (for the later variant of the army), plus I've ordered 200 20x20mm 1.5mm plywood bases from Fenris Games (highly recommended!), so things are moving forward slowly. Buying lists and bases before the figures ... sounds a bit "cart-before-the-horse"... no, I'm just being organised ;-)
Shields are still something of a puzzle as I'd really like to try out painting some free-hand designs but (a) it will take ages, and (b) I'm not sure my painting skills are up quite to it. Perhaps I'll try a few ... then get on to LBMS!? I've also been giving some thought towards what sort of scenery will be required as a few good items on the table really give the battlefield the right atmosphere for the era being played.
Next time I post, work permitting, I hope to show you my first dark ages figures.
When I first considered collecting for Age of Arthur it was the Romano-British that caught my eye but having thoroughly reviewed the lists and talked with a few other players I feel that it may lead to a rather defensive mind-set. Since I'll be forming plenty of Shieldwalls with my later Saxons I fancied something a bit more dynamic. The British & Welsh Kingdoms (B&WK) lists meets this requirement quite nicely! I already have a small collection of GB and Artizan figures suitable for Teulu and Combrogi so they'll be the start of this army. These are now on the painting table and I'm really looking forward to painting them. As for the Saxons, well I haven't actually got any suitable figures as yet but once the B&WK figures are nearly done then I'll order a Duguth unit deal from GB. Those Early Saxon figures are splendid. In fact my B&WK figures would do nicely in the Saxon line, as page 96 of AoArt shows some of these figures (the armoured ones) in Saxon units. Such are the benefits of dark ages gaming.
Anyway, I have ordered a copy of Shieldwall (for the later variant of the army), plus I've ordered 200 20x20mm 1.5mm plywood bases from Fenris Games (highly recommended!), so things are moving forward slowly. Buying lists and bases before the figures ... sounds a bit "cart-before-the-horse"... no, I'm just being organised ;-)
Shields are still something of a puzzle as I'd really like to try out painting some free-hand designs but (a) it will take ages, and (b) I'm not sure my painting skills are up quite to it. Perhaps I'll try a few ... then get on to LBMS!? I've also been giving some thought towards what sort of scenery will be required as a few good items on the table really give the battlefield the right atmosphere for the era being played.
Next time I post, work permitting, I hope to show you my first dark ages figures.
I look forward to watching your progress with this. Having a large number of Viking figures on the shelf I'm interested in resurrecting the period down at my club. Perhaps this is the inspiration I need!
ReplyDeleteGreat! I intend to purchase a large number of Viking figures ;-) Progress is likely to be slow-ish at first as work will be very hectic for next 4-6 weeks.
ReplyDeleteThanks for posting a comment :-)
Matt