Blood Eagle: Torstein WIP

I ran into some problems building Rolf, so while the poly cement is drying on a repair, I am building another member of Sigurdr's warband:

Torstein, young warrior

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

Light Helm and Shield

Javelins
Axe, One-Handed

As I am in short supply of models with leather byrnies, I opt to use light helms instead - as it gives the same level of protecgtion, rules-wise.

I shall be ordering a box of Conquest Games' relatively new plastic Medieval Archers next month and add a bow-armed warrior to the party (I was reluctant to do so, as I have not been impressed with Conquest's former plastic releases, but a recent posting on LAF of some nicely painted archers has swayed me), and with Torstein he will form the warband's potential for engaging the enemy from afar, while Sigurdr and Rolf will be the hard-hitters.

I intend to add a couple more raiders with light gear to fulfil the role of, well, raiders, going for the spoils and soft targets, supported and helped by Torstein and the archer, while Sigurdr and Rolf (hopefully) keep the more dangerous opposition at bay.

I am going to add a greenstuff leather 'loop'
holding the axe,
but the poly cement has to settle, first.

Couple of more pics:

Blood Eagle: Sigurdr Krage WIP

I got out of bed way too late today, as my daughter was very upset over something last night, and thus we allowed her to sleep in our bed - resulting in me getting almost no sleep at all, as she slept ver uneasily.

Well, I managed to get a mini assemble to represent my young Hersir, Sigurdr Krage (and got started on Rolf).

Sigurdr is statted up as follows:

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

Leadership +1
Hero (1)

Ringbrynje, Helhjælm (I count a Gjermundbu-helmet as a Full Helm), Skjold

Håndøkse
Langsværd

I'll have to play a couple of test-games to see if he has sufficient staying power - otherwise I may opt to go for 1 or 2 exstra Hero Points.

Sigurdr is based on a 20mm steel washer

Here is a couple of extra pictures:

Blood Eagle: Planning My First Warband

I have spent parts of today on financial chores, and walking my daily 8 kms with the dog - BUT I have also found time to start making up my own Viking warband.

I have opted for going from scratch, not using any of the pre-made lists (other than for basic profiles and guidelines), as I want to depict the warband of a young Hersir (who own his position to being the nephew of the local Jarl), eager to win renown and silver.

I have statted up the Hersir Sigurdr Krage, and his loyal Huskarl and bodyguard Rolf, a seasoned warrior who spent many years traveling and raiding with Sigurdr's father.

With those two, I already spent 110 points, so I shall have to plan the rest of the followers a bit conservatively.

I have begun assembling a Gripping Beast plastic Viking (Sigurdr), and I have planned how to construct Rolf, a hardened and strong man who is wielding a Dane Axe with his right hand alone, while defending with a shield.

Tomorrow I shall finish work on Sigurdr, get most of Rolf ready, and get on with the rest of the band.

Blood Eagle: First Impressions

I have read through Blood Eagle using yesterday evening and quite a few hours today.

I REALLY like what I have gathered from the rules so far, and I am quite certain, this purchase will finally kickstart my Dark Age related painting and gaming!

Furthermore, needing only a handful minis for playing (down to 4-5), and having an open point system for creating your entirely own warbands, is a fantastic opportunity for painting just the way I like it - a little bit of this, and a little bit of that - and still be able to use the minis right away! My mind is already working on the Fellowship, and I don't see why I shouldn't be able to use the rules for medieval warbands too (points values are given for better armour than normally found in the Dark Age).

Warbands can then be upgraded to Lion/Dragon Rampant units along the way, and finally to God of Battles units (and/or other massed battle systems I might fancy).

Blood Eagle comes with the complete package; most of the north-western European cultures are covered, and it is possible to include christian miracles and pagan magic.

Added to this, there are rules for a lot of mythical creatures (mainly from Scandinavia, Britain, and Ireland), and even rules for creating warbands composed of these.

I need to read through the actual game rules once more, and then start constructing my first warband, before I write more about Blood Eagle - but my first impression gives me much hope for my future with it.

New Rules!

I got THESE in the mail today:

And they got here, just after I finished work on a batch of mead, so what could be more fitting than...

The Mead Saga Continues...

...and this time I used port yeast, which gives a rich flavour, but also a slightly more dry mead, if my tongue does not deceive me.

The first picture is of the siphoning process, where I move the brew from the fermenting tank to the glass demijohn for a year of clearing (and aging), before it is poured into bottles.

The four filled bottles to the left are just my 'spill insurance', as I want to make sure that none of the brew spills over, if the demijohn should not be able to contain all of the mead, so I siphon some of the brew into bottles before leaving the process to itself.

As it turned out, all but half a liter fitted in the demijohn, so after 'decarbonising', I could set the brew aside, and go about tasting the stuff.

As always, I also filtered the dregs through coffee filters, as it contains a lot of nice taste when filtered properly.

I really should get another batch started up, but I have to bottle a batch that has been aging since April 1st, last year, so I think I'd rather get that done, first.

Not that I could not just let it rest a while longer, aging only improves the result, and I have plenty of bottled mead stored in the racks, but, well, it will be nice to get that task out of the way.

This is all from my personal brewery, for now.

Cheers!

Forgive Me, Friends...

...it has been far too long since my last conf.. er... update.

I have been in a hobby hiatus ever since stowing my stuff away for Christmas, but during Eastern, I got inspired to dive back into my piles of unpainted and unassembled plastic.

I started reading A Game of Thrones, and the short description of a tournament thererin brought my thoughts back on, how to depict jousting by using minis and dice. I wrote up the draft of a set of rules, and then needed to get som playtesting going.

Thus, I have assembled a couple of Fireforge Templar Knights to paint up as some late 12th Cty knights.

The plan (right now) is to assemble another 6 knights, and then get them painted.

As always, I have multiple purposes for these:

1. With 8 knights, I can test the Chivalry jousting rules in a small tournament with an even number of participants.
2. 8 knights give me 2 points of 'Hearthguard' for a SAGA Crescent and Cross crusader warband.
3. 6 knights give me a unit for Lion/Dragon Rampant.
4. Finally, one of the knights will serve as my Character for Chivalry, when I get the rest of the rules fleshed out.

So, I may well go back to updating the blog on a more regular basis - I have 1½ week off work, now, so I expect to get some stuff done.

Here's another pic of my first two knights, from a slightly different angle.

As you can see, I need to build up the bases, and I also have to do some cleaning up of greenstuff fillings, but right now I just want to get some more knights assembled, and the I can do the final fiddling about just before priming the minis.

Well, that should be all for now.

I hope to be able to show some more progress tomorrow, but don't hold your breath, as I have some over-due tasks in and around the house to tend to...