SAGA: Age of Magic and Anglo-Saxon Stand-ins WIP

Here is some of the stuff I have been working on this week. Metal galore!

After a long hiatus induced by stress caused by the news of my workplace shutting down this spring, thus leaving me unemployed if I cannot secure one of the fewer jobs offered by the replacement for the 'asylum' I was watching at night, I have decided to pull myself together and get back into some fantasy and historical gaming.

About a year ago, I prepped and based the first of these Royal Guards to paint up for my Rohan/Anglo-Saxon SAGA warband, and I am now aiming to get them painted up before the summer holidays (garden/work/job-search permitting).

Eight Guards give me two points of Hearthguard for SAGAj, and as soon as I add two leaders and two standard bearers, I have two units for God of Battles (and three points of Hearthguard).

I expect to use my Rohan warband, both for 'historical' games, using 1st Ed., and fantasy games to which end, yesterday I ordered SAGA 2nd Ed. and the Age of Magic 'worldbook' from North Star.

I am also contemplating to have a look at Warlords of Erehwon, as a possible transition point between SAGA and God of Battles; it seems to be playable with forces from about the size of SAGA warbands and larger.

When I have completed the Rohan warband for Age of Magic (and I do intend to add some riders), including painting a Gandalf to act as their Sorceror, I think I shall have a go at some Haradrim - Ulolkish also has some of those, and we could join up to get a playable warband ready within a relatively short time (I already painted a warband for Battle Companies years back, and I can build on that).

Well, as usual my head is spinning with plans when I start up (or reboot) a project, but at least this time I do not start from scratch, and that increases the probability for success.

This time, though, I can promise that the blog updates will come a bit more frequently over the next couple of months than has been the case since Christmas. As I am actually making progress, I now have something to write about, so stay tuned for more of my ramblings!

Second Hand Rohan Archers: One step Closer to the Gaming Table

Yes, they are still ugly.

I finished rebasing them some days ago, so as soon as I can find a gap for it (mind it!), I shall start touching up the colours (and clean up the occational mold line) so they can get a wash and join my Anglo-Saxon/Rohan SAGA warband.

Rohan Royal Guard WIP

Still at Operation Cleansweep!

I am planning to paint eight Royal Guards as Hearthguard for SAGA, and the unit will be expanded in due course for a Rohan God of Battles proxy Thousand Tribes army.

Not much more to say about it at the moment - this is the first Royal Guard I have finished prepping for painting, so I have seven more to go through (six, if I use one of my Gamling minis as leader).

I shall concentrate on getting the Gondor archers cleared away, first, though, as they are taking up space on the workspace of the prepping station.

In between, I shall start cleaning and basing some of the Bones minis I got for SS&SS.

I could sure use some days with more than 24 hours...

LotR: Rohan Commander WIP

Another mini sitting around on my prepping station for ages is this Rohan Captain.

He should do nicely as a Warlord for my SAGA warband, and a Unit Commander or Character in a Rohan proxy Thousand Tribes army for God of Battles.

I have cleaned him up and glued him to a washer; next up is putting filler on the base.

Very soon, I shall have cleared enough workspace for my work on the Broken Legions Argonauts warband to continue, but I have some painting projects that will probably take precedence over the Hoplites.

Never the less, it is nice to get some plastic and lead shifted from the prepping station, as it had gotten too cluttered for comfort (and I still have a LOT sitting there).

Rohan Archers - Ready to Move On!

Put the last filler on the bases of these ugly buggers today. If my back permits it, I shall glue sand on the bases tomorrow.

Rohan Archers WIP - Working on the Bases

Yes, they are still ugly. First helping of filler on the bases today. Has to settle, before I continue.

LotR: Second Hand Archers WIP

I put these on proper 20mm washers today, Yes, they are hideous...

LotR: The SAGA Continues

I was doing a major sorting of my boxes with LotR stuff earlier today, as I needed to locate some Rohan archers for my 'Anglo-Saxon' SAGA warband.

I came across these guys I got second-hand quite a while ago:

I am going to rebase them (and, of course, remove stray flock and dustballs), give them a dark shading wash, and then probably some matt varnish (if the wash does not remove the sheen, and that will be it, for now. They should blend in reasonably well after that treatment, and I really need the warband to be ready for squaring off against my Vikings. I can always paint some more to replace them, as I have droves of Rohan plastic.

With those done, next month is time to get som 1mm 25mm x 50mm pill shaped bases from Sarissa Precicion, I think, and start getting some horsemen based and painted for a proxy Norman warband.

Of course, both infantry and cavalry will also see service in God of Battles, and other systems that I should fancy playing.

LotR: Repaired a Spearman

This model had some battle damage (broken spear), so I had to get it fixed.

It does not look all that good - if it snaps again, I shall have to drill the hand instead of just re-attaching the pieces.

Well, at least for now he can join the warband I am getting ready for SAGA.

I need to figure out if I have some unused plastic archers, somewhere, otherwise I shall need to acquire some (but I would be pretty surprised if I did not get any with some of the lots I purchased a couple of years ago).

SAGA: Mustering the Guard

As mentioned yesterday, I have changed direction and am now aiming at getting a Rohan/Anglo-Saxon warband ready for SAGA.

I have to paint at least eight Royal Guards to exchange for the Minas Tirith spearmen currently standing in for Hearthguards, and also four archers for the Levy.

I did a quick search this morning, and unearthed no less than nine Royal Guards (I think I may have another six NIB in a box in the garage attic, but I shall not have to go looking for them right now - when I get to the next level and have to find a Mounted Ëomer to use as mounted warlord, I shall be rummaging through that box, anyway).

Of course, the Rohirrim will also form part of a Thousand Tribes army for God of Battles, and the Royal Guards are going to play the role as Hyena Warriors (for which I need only 6 models, so I may be able to field two of those).

Over the next couple of days, I shall be cleaning up a handful of these and glue them to washers (I already cut off half the tabs with my razor saw) - I think I shall aim for finishing one point at a time.

It is a real shame, GW never made any alternative body sculpts for these, but I shall try to vary the right arm poses as much as possible without ruining the overall effect.