Saga Viking Archers

It's been about 3 years since I last worked on my Dark Age Vikings for Saga. I purchased these Black Tree Viking Archers several years back with the intention of including them for the 2015 Grand Melee at Adepticon but ended up taking Normans instead. In the interest of finishing my paint queue backlog, I finally got around to finishing them up. Enjoy!

These two sculpts are my favorites - their faces are so expressive.

Adepticon Saga Grand Melee 2015 - Every Warband Ever!

I was lucky enough to have the opportunity to play in the inaugural US Saga Grand Melee this year at Adepticon. All I can say if it was one of the best events I've ever played in - well-organized with amazing terran. I was only able to play a fraction of the players who signed up but every player was amazing - all-around great sportsman who offered good games and lots of friendly banter. Unfortunately, because I lost track of time, I didn't get any in-game pics.

I DID get pictures of every warband from the first day and all of them were great. My apologies for some of the poor pictures - the lighting in the ballroom was very poor and it was difficult to get good, balanced pics.

These Skraelings took first place overall

"Not the face!"

The Scots' Spiritual Advisor

These Irish won best painted overall

Road to Adepticon 2015: Saga Baggage Train

So I resolved this year to play in at least one tournament where I already had completed armies and the Saga Grand Melee fit that bill nicely. I already have 6 points worth of completed Viking and Norman forces ready to go and, since the Grand Melee takes place over two days, I'll probably be running both this year.

Unfortunately, the painting gods really do have it out for me and I found out this past weekend I'd have to bring a completed baggage train for the tournament! As such, I quickly threw together a suitable model. I cut each 2"x2" base from 2mm MDF. Most of these figures are an old GW Bretonnian Trebuchet crew I'd saved in the bitz box for several years now. The little girl is from Hasslefree and the sitting dog is from a Lionel O Gauge switch tower kit. The hand cart is made entirely from plasticard and the bags are sculpted from Milliput.

This baggage train is meant to represent miners returning to the smelter with some precious gold ore. Enjoy!

Snow-covered Woods

If I could give new gamers one tip for terrain making it would be this - always remember to check after-Christmas clearance sales for stores that sell hobby supplies and/or decorative Christmas collectible tchotchkes. The forest below cost me less than $20, was quick to assemble, and looks effective at multiple scales.

All the pine trees are "small" Lemax trees that came in packs of two. I got them at Menard's for less than $.070 each. As they are glued to large, heavy snow-covered bases, they required no effort to place. The forest bases themselves are made from beige felt (pine forests usually lack much undergrowth and are blanketed in dead pine needles, which are a beige-brown color), liberally spray-painted with black, brown, and rust red paint. I then cut irregular holes out of a piece of cotton fabric and glued the felt to it. When the glue dried, I added some static grass to the open sections.

The best part is all the trees and bases fit in a one gallon ziploc bag for easy storage.

Tutorial: Flexible Plowed Fields

I have a love-hate relationship with the Battlefront Plowed Fields - I love how awesome they are and they're useful in many more games outside of Flames of War, but I hate the cost. $20-something should get you more than two small rectangular fields. So I decided to try making my own and the results are awesome. 

The felt backing for these fields is essential. Without it, the latex caulk will curl and roll. While the latex still lifts the corners while in storage, they can easily be bent back before play and will stay down due to the field's weight.

Materials

• 1 piece of single-layer corrugated cardboard
• Paintable acrylic latex caulk
• Caulking gun
• Aluminum foil 
• Felt fabric
• Plastic or metal paint scrapper
• Packing tape
• Earth-tone acrylic or latex paints
• Scissors and/or utility knife

1. Carefully wet one side of the cardboard and let the water soak in a couple minutes. Holding one corner, slowly and carefully peel away the wet side to expose the corrugated insides. Clean any leftover paper remnants. 

2. Before the cardboard dries, tape down all sides to a flat level surface you will not need to use for several days. Let the cardboard dry.

3. Pull off enough aluminum foil 1.5-2x the length of the cardboard and lay on top. Starting on one end, push the foil into each corrugation until you reach the end. When complete tape down all edges.

You could use wax paper or plastic wrap but foil will hold it's shape between, especially when you push and pull it around when applying the caulk.

4. Apply the latex caulk over the foil (Be sure to use a brand listed as "paintable"). Using your paint scraper, push the caulk around to cover most, if not all, of the foil. Be sure to "push" the caulk into the corrugations. Smooth out as much as possible and let stand for a couple of minutes (not more than 5-10 minutes).

5. Cut enough felt fabric to fully cover the caulking and apply to the caulk, smoothing out any rough spots and using enough pressure to push the felt into the caulking to make it bond.

6. Let dry for at least 12 hours. Because it is exposed to very little air, the caulk will take much longer to cure than what is listed on the package, especially towards the middle. You can slightly speed up the process by turning a hair dryer on low and blowing over the felt (but it will still be many hours before the caulk starts to cure enough).

7. Test the cure by attempting to SLOWLY pull up one corner. You want the felt and caulk to remain sticking together and the caulk to pull away, at least slightly, from the foil. If the felt is pulling away from the caulk, push it back down, smooth all the felt out again and let cure for several more hours.

This is very much an intuitive step. My advice is to be patient - best to let it sit for several days and wait, then pull it up too early and destroy the field.

8. When you're happy with the cure, pull up the field. Portions of foil may still stick and will have to be removed little by little. Using a knife or scissors, cut out whatever size fields you'd like.

9. If the furrows are still damp, you can make tracks in them by using a miniature of your choice.

10. Paint the fields. I used some leftover latex house paint samples we had, making them earth-tone by mixing in some dry pigments and stirring well.

Saga Normans

Finally able to post pics of my 99% complete 6 points worth of Saga Normans (there is still a little touchup work I need to do here and there). Unfortunately, I didn't win Best Painted for these at Adepticon, but only because I won the Death Dealer award instead (most enemy Warlords slain). 

I tried limiting my color palette to autumnal colors - browns, greens, reds, yellows, & oranges - and, while I'm satisfied with the results, I think the plain red I chose was too vibrant in relation to the other colors. Shield designs are drawn on with Micron Pigma pens, then filled by painting, and thoroughly sealed (since the pen ink is semi-permanent).

Sorry for the poor quality of the pics. I believe I need to buy a new camera soon as my current one won't properly focus up close.

Mounted Hearthguard w/ Lances

Mounted Hearthguard w/ Swords & Warlord (on the black stallion)

Hearthguard w/ War Banner

Warriors w/ Spears

Warriors w/ Crossbows