More Pagan Rus

Here are the last of my Pagan Rus, all ready for the official release of the new SAGA faction at Salute next weekend. I have done some playtesting on this new faction, and like it a lot. I'll write up some of my impressions this week if I get a chance.



When the new blister packs of figures for the faction come out I'll add some javelin armed levies to the warband, but otherwise I have a good solid unit of figures who will work as hearthguard or warriors. Shields are hand painted, as always, and I've got to say that I'm pretty chuffed about the wolf design.

This week I have been mostly...

....being feral in the bush!



Term finished with Army Cadets on bivouac, which was quite a nice way to finish up. We were incredibly fortunate with the weather, and I was delighted to remain leech free throughout the camp. I was FMO (Food Management Officer), so responsible for ensuring that I didn't kill any cadets by issuing them with rations they were allergic to, and was very relieved to succeed in this task.



Back home now and on holidays for a couple of weeks. A great development in the last day or so has been The Boy deciding that he wants his own copy of Wargames Illustrated. He practically lives in his batman costume at present, but has also started taking a copy of WI wherever he goes. Perhaps coincidentally (or perhaps not), the issue he has taken possession of is number 291, in which my good friend and all round Excellent Bloke, Paul of the Man Cave, has an article about training his son to be a gaming buddy. Hopefully my own socialisation of Bat Boy is succeeding...

Happy Birthday Loki!

Loki is running a terrific giveaway over at his Great Hall. Although Loki being Loki perhaps it is all a trick.... What the heck, it's too good a chance to miss out on.

For Phil Broeders: The Legio Prima Homunculorum

I've finished Phil Broeders' prize, and the Legio Homunculorum will soon be packed up and on its way to its new home in the UK.



So, what are my conclusions after this first foray into painting 6mm figures? On the whole I really enjoyed it. My eyes certainly hurt a bit more than normal after a painting session, but I was impressed with how easy it was to paint these little chaps and with how much detail Peter Berry at Baccus has managed to include. When I showed the result to the Duchess, and after she had overcome her indifference, she remarked 'wow, they really look like an army', and I think that sums it up.



Would I paint more 6mm figures? Yes, I would. As Richard Clarke suggested in the latest issue of Wrgames, Soldiers and Strategy, every scale has its uses. For me, 28mm is a brilliant scale for skirmish games, and also for Dark Ages battles that generally did not involve huge numbers. They also have individual personality, perfect for games like SAGA. On the other hand, I just can't see myself ever wanting to put the effort into painting a 28mm Napoleonic army. The available figures are stunning, but to my mind a unit of 28mm Napoleonic infantry just doesn't convince as a battalion or regiment or even company. I am seriously considering 6mm for either Napoleonics, 2nd Punic Wars or Wars of the Successors. Something where units look reasonably uniform. I certainly wouldn't want to paint an army of, say, Ancient Britons, where every figure should look distinct. I have always had a hankering to play Quatre Bras, and 6mm might be just the ticket.



Brilliant! Another scale to be interested in. Thanks Phil! May the Legio I Homunculorum bring you victory. That's me on the white horse, by the way.

School SAGA Tournament

We have just finished our second SAGA tournament in the Historical Wargames Club at school. The interest this year has been great, with 18 boys entering the tournament with warbands covering just about all the currently available 14 factions apart from Skraelings, Norse Gaels and Franks. Welsh and Bretons were the most popular.

Today we awarded prizes, and I really must give a shout out to Ian Crabbe at War & Peace Games who has been a brilliant supporter of our club and donated some very generous prizes. He is definitely on the Ducal Honours List. While you're over at his site, check out the tasty deal of the week on Saxon figures for Dux Britanniarum.

I can't put pictures of the happy young warlords up on the blog, but here are some of the figures from the winning Irish warband.



The boy who painted these figures (and came first in the tournament) didn't even know what wargaming was 2 years ago. He's probably been painting for about 18 months, and everything he comes out with is noticeably better than the last. Impressive eh? No way I could have done this well at his age.



Incidentally, the blue dice in the last photo are a set of famously cursed dice that thwart me at every turn. I refuse to use them, and play mind games with opponents by trying to get them to use them. Such are the depths of pre-Enlightenment superstition to which we gamers descend.

The Legio I Homunculorum Takes Shape...

I've finished the triarii and hastati/principes for Phil's prize. Just velites and a couple of generals to go. And of course the basing. I must say I felt a small buzz of pleasure seeing them all together. They really do look like part of an army, which is of course the whole point with 6mm.



I think I will also do a little highlighting of spear points etc, just to give some contrast to the darkening effect of the varnish. I think I'll be going with raw umber as a base colour, with some lighter highlights.

28mm vs 6mm Figures