Late Roman Cavalry

 This unit was also painted as an entry in the Analogue Hobbies Painting Challenge, as well as to provide some much needed troops for my Late Roman Saga Warband. It consists of a Warlord with a Draco bannerman and a 8 man Warrior Unit. This was the project that was start and go in the middle of the night during the long winter season. I am afraid I am of an age where getting up in the middle of the night, and being awake for a couple of hours is quite common.  A good time to paint. 

I purchased an unpainted Arthurian warband second hand in 2024. However it came without any horses for the calvary. I had tried various solutions including some Persian plastic horses that I had stored away but nothing meant with my satisfaction. In the end since the figures originated with Gripping Beast I wrote to the source and inquired if they could sell me the horses separately. Loki from the Beast responded positvely.

28mm WIP - Arthurian Warband

 Finally started work on the Arthurian Warband. A WIP, I would like to finish the cavalry within the next two weeks.

Doctor Who - 25/28mm

 The other day I had reason to search my blog for some pictures of the good doctor. It would seem that they never made it onto the blog for whichever reason. I suspect I was using some other form of anti-social media and never posted them here. 

The first and second Doctors

IMO your favorite doctor is the one of your youth. Here I show my age, I remember rushing home after school to catch a glimce of their adventures on the CBC in the early to mid 1960s. William Harnell and Patrick Troughton were the doctors that left a lasting imprint on my young imagination. And who could forget the metal nazis repeating their letter E mantra.

Black Tree Design Daleks

I lost interest by the time of the fourth doctor, but followed the reboot staring Chris Eccleston to Matt Smith until once again my attention flagged. One of my favorite episodes with David Tennant, as the doctor in The Family of Blood. I liked the idea of an army of animated scarecrows. These minis below are TWDCSP10 Scary Scarecrows by the The Woodbine Design Company through the Gripping Beast website.

The Woodbine Design Company - Scary Scarecrows

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.

WIP SAGA Arthurian Warband

Last year I purchased an unpainted Arthurian warband second hand. However it came without any horses for the calvary. I had tried various solutions including some Persian plastic horses that I had stored away but nothing meant with my satisfaction. In the end since the figures originated with Gripping Beast I wrote to the source and they were willing to sell me the horses separately. During today's  Paint and Chat I initiated work on them.

As well this week I got another dozen trees based and ready for the tabletop.  The forest is complete.

Since taking this photo the bases were completed. Brown texture paint, two types of flocking and some long grass tuffs were added.

SAGA - Dark Age Archers

 A second entry into the AHPC this week. Early last summer, I received some Dark Age Gripping Beast plastic miniatures, in a zip locked baggie as part of a purchase. I finally  got around to painting a Unit of Levy Archers.

In addition to the archers, I completed another two elements of pack mules, pulled from the mountain of lead.

For my final entry is a LOTR figure, but I really don't know what it is. I was unable to match it up against the current Games Workshop website. On the AHPC XIII blog it was identified as one of the Twilight Ringwraiths. These are the pale versions of the Nazgûl, which appear to Frodo, when he places the Ring of Power on his finger during the Battle of Weathertop. 

Norman Knights (II)

I painted a unit of 12 Norman Knights during the summer of 2013. The figures were by Black Tree Design, and I was happy with the results. However their shields were pretty drab and the bases had not received their full treatment. This fall I placed an order to Gripping Beast to purchase a pack of their Norman shields and to order some  Little Big Man Studios ' transfers. I think the results speak for themselves. Something now has to be done about William the Bastard's banner.

The Saga Continues ...

This post is about a month overdue. I was the very fortunate winner of a giveaway by Monty Luhmann whose blog, Twin City Gamer is worth talking a look at. He does some fantastic work, and the photo of the Viking Warlord I received is a fine example. The stand is the start of a Saga warband. The rules arrived in the mail two weeks ago and I now have to paint the followers of this fine fellow.

I had previously started to paint a 28mm DBA Viking army, but now I am torn. Do I finish the army, or do I rebase the figures for the warband? The following figures were on unflocked bases and the work on the elements was completed at the same time as the Norman Knights. 

However this was before the idea of a Saga Warband was planted in my head. As well as having another 40-50 Wargames Foundry figures to paint, I also have a stack of RAFM Vikings in my mountain of unpainted lead.

Reaper Madness II: There be Dragons

A quick post to show off the Reaper Dragons that I obtained for use with HOTT. Both are shown with a 25mm Gripping Beast Roman Centurion for scale.