2017-07-11, Vacation 2017, Day 8: Trelleborg (Zealand, Denmark)

Nothing quite finished on the miniatures front today, so here's the last installment of our trip to Sweden.

On the way home we made a stop at Trelleborg near Slagelse on Zealand. The 'Trellborgs' are a number of circular ramparts/fortifications built as military encampments by Harald Bluetooth in various parts of Denmark and Southern Sweden, probably to demonstrate his unification of the realm of the Danes.

This particular Trelleborg has a nice museum with interesting elements, such as reconstructed clothings.

How a longhouse is supposedly constructed-

A model of the Trelleborg, based on the excavations at hte site.

The actual rampart from afar.

An older reconstruction of a longhouse or mead hall. Notice how the wooden 'pillars' are different from the newer model in the museum.

An outdoor model of the site.

The following pictures are from the actual site.

The following pictures are depicting various aspects of the Trellborg open-air museum.

And thus ended our rather short vacation trip. Had the car not needed a new transmission after the vacation in Catalonia, we might have had a longer visit to Sweden, but money was tight, and the mortgage cannot be postponed.

There will be one more post from the 2017 holidays, as we also visited Lundeborg Iron Age Market after returning home, but that is another story alltogether.

Dark Ages Tents WIP

I am printing some Oseberg tents to use as Camp models for Ulolkish's Dwarves in tomorrow's God of Battles game.

Of course, they will also be used for camp scenery in other games, like SAGA, especially when my Vikings are fighting.

The tents are roughly the same size as the Saxon tents I purchased from Renedra a couple of years ago - and just remembered, so I have dug them out and expect to assemble them next week (they should be perfect for my Rohan warband, although the movie show a somewhat different style of tents in the camp at Dunharrow.

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!

SS&SS: More Characters Ready for Painting

Three different minis, three different manufacturers, all possible contestants for a position in a warband for Anna, should she decide to play with Lea and me (and, perhaps, Ulolkish).

The Hedge Witch is from Red Box, Ladgerda from Hasslefree, and the War Dog is from North Star's very useful Frostgrave range (I don't play Frostgrave, but the minis are great for many purposes!).

They are going into the 'primed' box for storage, until it is time to paint one or more of them, as I have plenty of pending projects at the moment.

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...

Finished Assembling Ladgerda - Cleaning WIP

I got the sword cleaned up and attached to the Shieldmaiden today.

I tried to remove the moldline running through her face, but it is very hard to see in real life, so I have to wait until I have primed her to see if it is still visible.

This photo reveals some flash on her shoulder that I have missed, and I shall have to get the diamond needle files out for her again tomorrow (tonight is Eurovision Song Contest night, so I doubt I shall find more hobby time today).

From this angle, the shield rim looks okay, although I did not do any work on it, yet, but maybe I shall also have to give it a grind...

A slightly unfocused photo from her left side.

I think the 'lump' in front of her chin must be part of her right shoulder - it is definitely not some flash on the shield rim, although it could look as it at the first glance.

Vikings Re-post

I am re-posting my Viking warband, because another member of the Powerfist forum requested larger pics, and I need a hosting site, as Powerfist does not seem to support attaching pics to posts.

So here they are!

Ladgerda WIP

I made a bit of progress on the Shieldmaiden today. I still need to clean up and attach her short sword, but all in all I am content with the state of affairs.

Something I am not quite content with is the moldlines revealed by these pictures.

I thought I had filed away the one running through her face, and I had not noticed the one on the shield rim before.

I wonder if I can fix them without breaking the bond of the superglue holding her foot to the washer base; otherwise I shall of course just glue her on again, it is a bit annoying, though.








Here is a pic from a slightly different angle.

I shall have a look at those moldlines later this evening or tomorrow, depends on my mood - I have had a rather frustrating afternoon in the garden, trying to set some mole traps, but unable to find a proper tunnel under the molehills (they all seemed to be at the end of a tunnel), and failing to get a fallen tree leaning on a branch of another tree to come loose and onto the ground (the branch it is leaning on could suddenly snap, and the tree fall onto and kill smebody, so I have get it cleared away). I need to sharpen my chainsaw-chain, so I can cut up the trunk in smaller pieces, but that is definitely not going to happen before Monday, at least, andmore likely Tuesday, as the forecast speaks of rain.

Shieldmaiden WIP

I have begun cleaning and assembling 'Dynamic Haleth' from Hasslefree. It is going to be readied and painted as a side project, but I expect it to find use in an SS&SS warband (maybe Anna's if she decides to join Lea and me in some Family Gaming, as the mini we chose for her Viking character when trying D&D could use another Shieldmaiden companion), but I also intend to expend my Viking army with a unit of Shieldmaidens, and this one is a good beginning.

Of course, she will be usable for a lot of different games, so the time invested in her should be well spent!

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.