Dark Ages: Second Hearthguard (finally)

While walking to and from the stove, cooking rice porridge for supper, I finished my second Viking Hearthguard warrior with a shield transfer and some detail painting.

I hope to finish the first point of Hearthguard over the weekend, but the forecast promises dry weather, and I may have to spend a lot of time preparing the veggie garden for planting potatoes, as the spuds should be put in the soil around April 1st.

I do not think I let my lamps heat up for quite long enough, hence the slightly dark photos.

No problems with the latest two shield transfers, by the way - but I still want to use up the entire first batch of four sheets, before I move on to something else - which means that I shall probably be busy until late April, at least.

Well, I do not have any pending deadlines, and painting these Vikings is quite easy and rewarding, so it is not that hard to find motivation.

2017-03-08 Tally

Miniatures:

Painted: 59, Just Re-based: 0, Repaired: 0, Purchased: 0, Gotten as Gift: 0

Vehicles:

Painted: 0, Just Re-based: 0, Repaired: 0, Purchased: 1, Gotten as Gift: 0

Terrain/Scenery:

Pieces Painted: 0, Pieces Built: 0, Pieces Purchased: 0, Materials Purchased: 2, Plastic Vegetation Gotten as Gift: 2

Paints:

Primer Purchased: 1, Paints Purchased: 2, Washes/Inks Purchased: 1

Games:

Games Played: 1 (Victories: 1, Ties: 0, Defeats: 0)

Rules:

Rules Purchased: 1, Rules Gotten as Gift: 0, Free Rules Downloaded: 0

Ultimo February

Miniatures:
Painted: 58, Just Re-based: 0, Repaired: 0, Purchased: 0, Gotten as Gift: 0
Vehicles:
Painted: 0, Just Re-based: 0, Repaired: 0, Purchased: 1, Gotten as Gift: 0
Terrain/Scenery:
Pieces Painted: 0, Pieces Built: 0, Pieces Purchased: 0, Materials Purchased: 2, Plastic Vegetation Gotten as Gift: 2
Paints:
Primer Purchased: 1, Paints Purchased: 2, Washes/Inks Purchased: 1
Games:
Games Played: 1 (Victories: 1, Ties: 0, Defeats: 0)
Rules:
Rules Purchased: 1, Rules Gotten as Gift: 0, Free Rules Downloaded: 0

Ultimo January

Miniatures:
Painted: 38, Just Re-based: 0, Repaired: 0, Purchased: 0, Gotten as Gift: 0
Vehicles:
Painted: 0, Just Re-based: 0, Repaired: 0, Purchased: 0, Gotten as Gift: 0
Terrain/Scenery:
Pieces Painted: 0, Pieces Built: 0, Pieces Purchased: 0, Materials Purchased: 2
Games:
Games Played: 0 (Victories: 0, Ties: 0, Defeats: 0), Rules Purchased: 0

Association Football: Striker

Because of a review on LAF I read yesterday, I went and bought the PDF of the Striker rules.

It is an easily digestable set of rules that promises to provide a fast and somewhat realistic game of football - and if, like me, you happen to have a boxed starter set of Subbuteo, you can get stuck in right away!

The game plays like a wargame, no grid on the pitch, measured movement, and using dice  (d6s and a d8) to resolve any action involving the ball.

I have not played it, yet, as I have not been fully well this week (which is also the reason why I have not painted much), but I look forward to rolling out the pitch on the dining table this coming weekend. and try out Striker, as I expect it to provide a lot of fun!

2017-03-06 Tally

Miniatures:

Painted: 59, Just Re-based: 0, Repaired: 0, Purchased: 0, Gotten as Gift: 0

Vehicles:

Painted: 0, Just Re-based: 0, Repaired: 0, Purchased: 1, Gotten as Gift: 0

Terrain/Scenery:

Pieces Painted: 0, Pieces Built: 0, Pieces Purchased: 0, Materials Purchased: 2, Plastic Vegetation Gotten as Gift: 2

Paints:

Primer Purchased: 1, Paints Purchased: 2, Washes/Inks Purchased: 1

Games:

Games Played: 1 (Victories: 1, Ties: 0, Defeats: 0)

Rules:

Rules Purchased: 0, Rules Gotten as Gift: 0, Free Rules Downloaded: 0

Ultimo February

Miniatures:
Painted: 58, Just Re-based: 0, Repaired: 0, Purchased: 0, Gotten as Gift: 0
Vehicles:
Painted: 0, Just Re-based: 0, Repaired: 0, Purchased: 1, Gotten as Gift: 0
Terrain/Scenery:
Pieces Painted: 0, Pieces Built: 0, Pieces Purchased: 0, Materials Purchased: 2, Plastic Vegetation Gotten as Gift: 2
Paints:
Primer Purchased: 1, Paints Purchased: 2, Washes/Inks Purchased: 1
Games:
Games Played: 1 (Victories: 1, Ties: 0, Defeats: 0)
Rules:
Rules Purchased: 0, Rules Gotten as Gift: 0, Free Rules Downloaded: 0

Ultimo January

Miniatures:
Painted: 38, Just Re-based: 0, Repaired: 0, Purchased: 0, Gotten as Gift: 0
Vehicles:
Painted: 0, Just Re-based: 0, Repaired: 0, Purchased: 0, Gotten as Gift: 0
Terrain/Scenery:
Pieces Painted: 0, Pieces Built: 0, Pieces Purchased: 0, Materials Purchased: 2
Games:
Games Played: 0 (Victories: 0, Ties: 0, Defeats: 0), Rules Purchased: 0

Dark Ages: First Hearthguard Painted

I felt a bit ill during the weekend, and most of my hobby-time consisted of reading up on the SAGA rules, both the original book and the Crescent & Cross hardback.

This morning. though, I got up early, and started painting again. I focus on finishing one Hearthguard at a time, so that I can check off some progress each day (except those days when I have to sleep after a night watch). I expect to have two points ready somewhen next week, but a quick count of my shield transfers has shown that I shall have to paint about a dozen more, so I am probably not going to stop painting Vikings very soon.

I had no problems with the shield transfer today, by the way, even though it is from the same sheet as the previous ones.

I am not quite content with the mail - I used the original black ink for the ancient Citadel Colours Ink Paint Set (you know, the series with nine pots in a vac-formed white insert) on top of Chainmail, and it is, I think, a bit too rich for this purpose. On the next one I shall try Badab Black, of which I still have an almost full pot, and if I think it dulls the metal too much, I shall get a clear Nuln Oil as soon as I can commandeer the family dropship for the purpose.

Dark Ages: Armoured Warriors WIP

Although most of my time the last couple of days has been spent cuddling with the kids, I did manage to get the armoured warriors primed, sand glued to bases, and get them glued to cork handles. They are now fully ready for a lick of paint (or two), so I can start the last stage of this, my first fully painted (almost in one go) historical 'army', namely the Hearthguard for my SAGA Vikings.

As it stands, the army is all plastic, but I am contemplating adding some metal Berserkers at a later point, so I can make use of the SAGA Viking special rules.

When I finish up the army for this time around, I have several options to tend to, and I am not sure if I shall construct a Rohan army for SAGA, continue work on my proxy Dol Amroth pikemen, go back to my IHMN Zulus, or paint some pop culture minis for my Christmas Wars project. Whatever I decide, I shall have plenty to do for a while without the need for further purchases.

Dark Ages: Four Points Warriors Line-Up

Both the girls have been ill (cold/flu/something), so I have been laying low on the hobby front. I have lined up the four points of Warriors, though, here arranged in two units of 12, and one unit of 8.

For God of Battles Blood Gorged Vikings, these can be two units of 'Brutes' (6 points, 10 models), and one unit of 'Younglings' (3 points, 8 models) with a few models spare.

When I have painted three points of Hearthguard, I can use those as 'Brute Slayers' (9 points, 10 models), and I shall have both a full SAGA warband, and 24 points of Main Force for GoB.

To round off a full 24 points GoB force, I then shall have to paint six huskarls/hirdmen for a 'Brute Watchers' unit (12 points, 6 models), as I already have a Warlord/Herdlord (12 points, 1 model).

I have not been playing around with the Thousand Tribes list for these, yet, and I have a feeling that I shall rather use my Rohan collection for it, keeping Vikings, Anglo-Danes, and Saxons (when I get around to those) for the Blood Gorged list.

The six hirdmen will not be the end of it, though, as I shall probably want to paint another six, at the same time getting them ready to take over the role of Hearthguard, while my spear-toting, mail-clad Vikings can then shift to the position of Warriors - and I can use some of my un-armoured Warriors as the start of an Anglo-Danish warband. This, of course, also leads to the need for more armoured models to swell the ranks of the Vikings, and I also want to make a dane-axe equipped unit to act as 'Brute Ravagers' in Gob, while at the same time providing the option of dane-axe equipperd Hearthgurad for the SAGA Anglo-Danes.

Still some road to cover - and I do not think that I am getting all the way there right away - but I expect to keep at it, at least until I have used up my first batch of LBMS shield transfers, to avoid them going irreversibly bad.

As soon as the transfers are all used, I think I shall go back to the Perry plastic spearmen and finish assembling the first 16-man block, to be able to get them off my prepping station, as I really need some space there. I might even paint some of them - would like to get my Gondor army up and running - but I have plenty other projects waiting down the line, so I cannot plan that far ahead.