Blood Eagle: SMER Drakkar, Hull Assembled

Just glued the left side of the hull in place. Couple of minis for scale view.

Blood Eagle: Drakkar, Work Commences

I cleaned up the hull parts, and glued the deck to the right side of the hull.

I think I'll let the glue settle until tomorrow.

I may yet have to do somelthing about the the oarsman 'rooms', as cutting down the hull may result in the table becoming visible through the gaps... Oh, well, can be done quite easily.

Blood Eagle: Warband Status

So, with five minis assembled, I have spent a total of 174 points.

I am aiming for 200 points for my starting warband, which means that I have 26 points left to spend on a warrior with a bow. I am too tired to jiggle stats and points right now, but it should be easily doable.

I just ordered the Conquest Games plastic Medieval Archers from Renedra (with som Saxon Tents, and two frames of waddle fencing).

The plans for the weekend are:

1. Remove moldlines from Ulf
2. Sculpt leather straps/loops holding some axes
3. Add filler to the bases
4. Maybe take a group shot

I am currently in my 5-day work week (night watch), and I probably shall not make more much progress this week (but that only means, the archer may have time to catch up with the rest of the crew). It will be good to take a few days off cutting and gluing plastic, though.

Blood Eagle: SMER Drakkar (1:60)

I got this in the mail today:

I just made a quick dry-fit of the hull to figure out, how difficult it will be to glue it, and some fiddling about is requied to make everything fall into place.

The cartoony dragon of couse has to be replaced, an the hull cut off at water-level, but apart from that, I do not think that I need to do much - this is intended for gaming, and not a display model.

I was told, by the way, that the crew miniatures form this set are 1:72, but as you can see from this picture, a standing crewman measures about 26 mm from footsole to eye level, which clearly puts the figures in the 1:60 vicinity.

The crewmen are awful, mind you, but as I am going to use the ship for my 28mm Blood Eagle vikings, this is of no concern to me.

I expect to glue the hull Monday or Tuesday (I need plenty of time, so I do not botch the build by rushing it), but we shall see about that - I may be able to squeeze it in over the weekend.

I still have my Revell longship in its box, but Blood Eagle is probably going to spur me on to get it done (and maybe get a couple more).

EMHAR has a ship listed as 1:72, which is said to be a nice model, and I am going to try finding one of those as well, to add some diversity to the available vessels.

Blood Eagle: Rolf, Veteran WIP (Finally)

This conversion is not the best of poses - I would have preferred to turn the right hand a bit, but the spear I used as handle for the axe snapped when I removed the arm from the sprue, so I do not dare cut the wrist.

If I had been a bit smarter, I would have discarded the broken bit, and just cut down the handle on the original axe to the right length above the hand an glued it directly where the spear broke off, but, well...

Rolf is a veteran of many raids, border disputes, and brawls, as he served Sigurdr's father Halgrim for many years.

Now he acts as bodyguard for the young Hersir, trying to keep him out of the worst trouble, until he can grow experienced leading men in battle.

Wielding his Dane-axe in one hand, he prefers fighting without a helmet for better vision, as he says: "If I cannot hit some runt before he hits me, I have grown too old for battle!"

Rolf is statted out as follows:

Fate 4+, FV +3, SV +2, Speed +0, Pagan

Tough
Strong

Ringbrynje, Skjold

Daneøkse
Unarmed, Skilled

As with Sigurdr, I have to see how Rolf fares in combat, and if he dies too often, I may have to make him a Hero (0).

Now, with 5 members of the crew assembled, it is time to calculate what points I may have left.

I want to include a warrior with a bow, too (as soon as I feel sufficiently rich to throw in an order for some plastic box sets (I need the Conquest Games Medieval Archers, another GB Dark Age Warriors set, as I am almost through the first one, and another set of GB Viking Hirdmen, to have enough Dane-Axe wielding loonies.

I probably should get some Fireforge Mounted Sergeants, Fireforge Teutonic Knights, and GB foot Arabs, too, but I think I have to postpone that until after the summer holidays.

Blood Eagle: Ulf WIP

Another young raider joins the swelling ranks:

Ulf

Eager to earn his 'horns', Ulf has joined Sigurdr's crew expecting adventure and loot, so he can afford marrying Gunhild (little does he know, Gunhild plans to become a shieldmaiden, and seek fame and fortune of her own).

Stats:

Fate 5+, FV +1, SV +1, Speed +0, Pagan

Læderbrynje

Håndøkse, Seax (Dagger)

Like Halfdan, Ulf is equipped for hitting soft targets, and getting away with the loot, be it silver, livestock, or thralls.

I think I forgot to remove some
moldlines...

I'll fit as many light raiders in the warband as possible, as I expect lots of raiding action focussing on securing the spoils of war. My only concern is, will they have sufficient staying power if cornered by angry defenders, or shall I have to replace crewmembers on a game-to-game basis...

Blood Eagle: Halfdan WIP

Not yet quite done with Rolf, so here I present you:

Halfdan, Viking Raider

Another combined build, using the Dark Age Warriors and the Viking Hirdmen sets from Gripping Beast.

Equipped for hit-and-run tactics, Halfdan leads the more reckless elements of Sigurdr's warband, abandoning protection in favour of mobility.

Stats pretty 'canon':

Fate 4+, FV +2, SV +1, Speed +0, Pagan

Light Helm

Axe, Throwing Axes

The warband takes shape, and I hope to start painting this week - but real life may have a second opinion on that...

As with Torstein,
I need to add a leather 'loop'
holding the Throwing Axe.

These two pics are very much further apart in the published version of this post than in the design view....