28mm SAGA Warband - Age of Vikings - Norman

Thursday night was the first time in almost a year that I had my Norman Warband in action. Since they were readily available  I was able to photograph the units for the Blog. The Calvary were Black Tree Design Miniatures that I repurposed for SAGA. They were originally based for DBX games. The figures of Bishop Odo and William the Conqueror are from Footsore Miniatures and Games. The remaining infantry are from various manufacturers. Some were purchased 10 or 12 years ago and I simply don't remember where they were from.  

Bishop Odo and William the Conqueror

Hearth Guard

Mounted Norman Warriors

Two units of Norman Warriors on Foot

Levy Bowmen

Crossbowmen 8 Warrior or 12 Levy

Levy Spearmen

Levy Slingers - I need 4 more

All the infantry figures were painted between Sept 2023 and early 2024 in order to get this Warband onto the tabletop. Meeting up with the  Montreal Historical Wargaming Club put a focus back into my painting which had been dormant for almost two years.

MTB05 - British Regular Army (French & Indian War) Part 3

 Thursday evening Graham popped by to SAGA night to make his deliveries. I received my final group of redcoats, an officer and eight men. Again Graham puts my painting to shame.

This is part of  the 15th Regiment of Foot. 15th Foot – Buff facings, white lace. (Louisburg, Plains of Abraham, Montreal).  The reason I selected the 15th was they were garrisoned in Halifax, Nova Scotia at the start (1758) of the French and Indians wars.   

Last Saga Night of 2025

Last night was the last SAGA meet-up for 2025 by the club. For the evening we returned to the Age of Vikings and I dug out my Normans, lead by Bishop Odo. I was matched against Eric and his Norse Gaels. It was a fairly bloody affair with the game declared a draw, 21 vs 20 points. 

Crossbowmen anchor the line. Bishop Odo on foot between two units of warriors.

The battle lines are drawn. The setup was diagonally across the board. 

Both sides received an extra SAGA die each turn. Brutal.

Saga Arab/Saracen/Moors Warband

 This was a SAGA warband that I picked up in November 2024 on the Facebook Marketplace. I have been meaning to rebase some of my own DBX based Saracens to provide greater flexibility, due to the revisions between the older Cross and Crescent and the more recent Age of Crusades supplements. Based upon the troops mustered this warband looks like it was for the earlier supplement. I just need to paint up or rebase some more cavalry figures.  The figures themselves are a mix of Victrix and Gripping Beast hard plastic miniatures.

My Tabletop Limits

 I have set up my tabletop in the anticipation of having a game over the holidays. My table is slightly only 31 inches wide, and almost 5 feet long (59 inches). It looks like I will be able to get some 15mm troops into action, but 25mm large scale affairs might be a thing of the past. Not that I have had too many in this city.   

15mm Mike's Models carrying out exercises

25mm Bombard

 The final project I had in mind to complete on last weekend's Paint and Chat was this bombard and crew from Black Tree Design. It was given to me but a fellow gamer at the Club two months ago. It fits in with my Scots for SAGA and that is where it shall be stored. 

HYW1019 - Bombard and Crew

Objective Markers - The Barons' War

 Last Sunday afternoon during my Paint and Chat, another project I wanted to complete was this set of Objective Markers from Footsore Miniatures and Games. They are also useful as objectives when playing SAGA.

 Objective Markers - The Barons' War (SKU: WHV022+WHV023)
My Roman Auxiliary man puts everything into scale.

15mm Large Pavilion tents

 A couple of 15mm tents by Baueda. Now I have to dig out some 15mm figures to populate the base. Nothing too fancy here. One tent has basic flock grass layered on and the other just green paint on the MDF base.

15mm Polish Winged Hussars

 As part of my Paint and Chat, today my established goal was to complete some projects. I managed to complete one as the chatting seemed much more productive than the painting. Very little paint was used this afternoon, but glue was applied. I had to get 24 wings attached to the Hussars as well as get weapons in hands, and the men seated upon their mounts. Mission accomplished. Six three man calvary elements are ready for action.

15mm Polish Winged Hussars

28mm Scots Auld Alliance Warband SAGA

 This will be the majority of mounted figures in my next Age of Chivalry Scots Warband. It was the Victrix Miniatures Medieval Knights package which contains 18 x Knights and fully barded horses. Again I am blown away by the scope of figures available in hard plastic. I still lean towards the choice of  metal figures, however the pose and energy of these figures attracted me. I have three units of  Levy Archers by Claymore casting, but happy to have them joined relatively inexpensively by 2 units of mounted warriors.

The Night Watch - 28mm

 I purchased a box of Guards figures from the Wargames Atlantic Classic Fantasy line. I kept half the figures and swapped the other half with a buddy so I could obtain a sampling of the Villagers from the same line of figures. They still await treatment. As I stated before I am truly amazed by the breathe and range of hard plastic figures and am very happy with how this unit turned out. 

The Night Watch originally designed for Guards of Traitor's Toll.

Useful in both RPG fantasy game and they might even pass off  as a SAGA unit of Levied city Militia. I really enjoyed the geese that can serve as a burglar alarm throughout the ages.

Battlegroup Northag - Intro

 Today I got to revisit my early to mid 1980s wargaming, with an introduction to the Plastic Soldier Company Battlegroup NORTHAG. I was given a Soviet Recce force and thrown into the fray. In the 1980s the group I gamed with in Halifax mostly played the WRG Armored and Infantry Rules 1950 to 1985. Over the years we did occasional forays into TacForce, OMG and early in the new millennium Cold War Commander. However for the majority of the past 30 years my microarmor collection quietly sat on the storage shelf. I enjoyed today's revisit of the period. I am personally very happy that we didn't go through the hell of the Cold War becoming hot, but at the time it seemed that it was quite possible.

The powerplant objective at the far end of the table

The Crossroads that became today's focal point.

The T-64s of my Recce Platoon advance across the fields.

More Recce advance trough the countryside.

My luck runs out as the Germans start shooting down from the highrises. I lost 50% of my artillery spotters in an early firefight.

Turn 4 My Motorized infantry arrived last turn. First platoon advances trough the parkland towards the built up area. In the distance my tanks are engaged with the West German Recce

Today's game was a small meeting engagement between the Soviets and West Germans. The Bundeswehr gained control of two of the three objectives. The Soviets achieved only one. Both of the the T-64s were destroyed by infantry AT weapons on the 10-20 inch table on their frontal armor. Both times the German player (William) needed 10 or better on two dice to destroy the tanks. In both cases 11 was thrown. That plus a well placed artillery barrage, which destroyed three of my fire teams drove me above my BP limit. 

I have ordered a copy of the rules and intend to get my 6mm troops back onto the table 

WIP 15mm Polish Winged Hussars

 As part of my ongoing triage, I came across three zip locked baggies containing some 15mm Polish Winged Hussars. I am unsure of the brand but they have the look of Essex Miniatures. They were from the collection of Joseph Lappin, and have been sitting in a storage box for far too long. 

A jumbled mix of figures from a baggie has enough for 2 elements of Wing Hussars. I have 18 figures in total that I am working on.

I wonder if the figures were originally Joseph's to begin with. 

I have memories of sitting at one of the chess tables in the Halifax Public Gardens in the summer of 1976 or 1977 painting figures along side Charles Gallagher. Charles was a larger than life character, unofficial leader of our gaming circle in the mid 1970s and a mentor to many of us as we discovered the joys of miniature wargaming in the early 70s. I clearly recall him painting some Winged Hussars that day. Charles unfortunately passed away in an auto accident before the decade was over. It was to Joseph, that fell the task of dealing with Charles' estate.