Vikings 28mm Wargames Foundry Part I

I'll begin this posting with some light entertainment by the Muppets about our fun loving Norsemen.

While I was painting my Seljuk Turk DBA army I thought I could kill two birds with one stone. Every time I dipped a brush into paint for the 15mm figures, I would use the same brush and colour on a larger scale figure. I looked around and saw that I had a clear plastic storage box with a collection of Wargames Foundry Viking figures already cleaned and primed. I won them on eBay about 5 years ago.  In total there are about 80 Figures and I thought that I would work on a quarter of them at a time.

Six Elements of 4 Blade

1 Element of 3 Aux (ulfhedinn)

2 Elements of 3 Blade/Aux

Since I prime my minis usually with 4 or 5 foot 28mm figures on a craft stick at a time I figures that this was more a more sensible approach then trying to paint 80 large figures at once. My attention does wonder, especially in summer. Like much of the northern hemisphere in Montreal we experience our first real heat wave of the summer. With the humidix the temperature was in the mid-40s C most of a week. It’s hard to paint in that type of environment.

Possible Choices for General (4 man Blade)

1 Element Bow, 1 x 2Ps (Scouts)

Recently I was checking out the troop types needed for a Viking army due to my recent 2nd place finish at Cangames and the resulting prize. The 80 Foundry figures should provide enough figures for a DBA Viking Army. The Foundry Figures are just too chunky to base on the standard 20mm deep element. So this army will be fielded with Blades with a 30mm depth

Painting Totals for the Month of July

39 x 28mm Vikings

43 x 25mm Colonial Gunners

1 x Siege Engine

18 x 15mm Seljuk Turk Cavalry

18 x 15mm Seljuk Turk Infantry

Some Other Odds and Ends that were also Painted

1 x 15mm Baueda Wargames Tent

7 x 15mm Essex Medieval Cavalry (Came with the tent)

1 Element 4Kn (Eastern)

1 x 3 Cv (General)

6 x 28mm Medieval Cavalry (Mix Revenge/Black Tree Designs)

A Couple of Young Rakes Showing Off the Lastest Style of German Armour

HOTT: Robin Hood Part 2 The Normans

It has been a while since I have blogged. The summer has been good to me and I didn't do any work on my miniatures. I had the opportunity to play a massive HOTT (72 points per side) battle with Joseph when I was in Halifax.

Last year I mused about doing a 25/28mm Robin Hood (HOTT) Horde of The Things army. Ross commented with some ideas for the opposition and just before Christmas a pack of Revenge (Old Glory) Norman Heavy Infantry went up for auction on Ebay.

Four Elements of Spear

2nd View of Spear in column

The package contained 32 figures, most figures being spearmen, but it also included two casualties. These two figures were mounted on individual figures. The rest were divided into four elements of  4 Spear and 2 elements of 7 Hordes. I based this decision upon the actions and military effectiveness of the Norman troops as portrayed in various Robin Hood movies and TV shows.  I felt that two units of Hordes were not uncalled for and the DBM army lists for both the Western Norman lists and the Eastern Frankish lists in the DBM included (peasant) hordes.

Two Elements of 7 Hordes

The figures already included their weapons in hand, but the kite shield had to be attached. The shields came in two main types. One style being long and narrow and the other being a bit shorter and wider. I now have to come up with a couple of banners for the two standard bearers. I haven't found anything on the web that I am happy with yet. I may decide to go with the plain Jerusalem cross.

Casualties of War

Somes Ideas For a Norman (Robin Hood) HOTT Army

I now need to get some crossbowmen, mounted troops and a few individual figures. I think that the obvious characters that are needed for the Norman side include

Prince John, an obvious sneaker, who will steal your stronghold (throne) if you're not careful.

The Sheriff of Knottingham. The general in charge of the army.

Sir Guy of Gisbourne (and according to Wikipedia also spelled Gisburne, Gisborne, Gysborne, or Gisborn). The hero of the Normans.

Dickon Malbete, a lurker. In the movie "The Adventures of Robin Hood" Dickson is an assassin sent by Prince John to murder King Richard. In return he'll regain his lost rank.

The Bishop of the Black Canons. A cleric, not neccessarily a good one, but a cleric none the less.