Among my other projects, I’ve been doing small additions to some Saga: Age of Magic armies.
First are some Dwarf Hearthguard for a friend’s Bear Clan Dwarf army. He’s been fielding Hearthguard on foot, and wanted an option to mount them up. These Dwarfs ride rams, wearing heavier leather and bronze armor. Some wear helmets with molded face masks. The models are 3D prints from online. This is the first 4 models; the unit will be 2 points of 8 Hearthguard when finished. The rams will contrast with the boar mounts used by the mounted Warriors unit. Interestingly, the unit is 50/50 male and female models. Some of the ladies also wear the face helmets (with beards!).
Next is a Treant. This big tree monster is from Rune Wars, but it works just fine for Saga. I didn’t even do any converting of the base model. It sits on a 60mm base, so is perfectly sized for a Titan. I did some variation of the ‘woody’ color scheme, with plenty of fungus growing on the outer bark. The model had a gaping maw or some sort of opening in the ‘head’ but I opted to do a glowing eye. The Treant will be a nice Monster unit for my various Saga armies.
Last are the first test models for a Lizardmen force for Saga (or Seraphon for Age of Sigmar). These Kroxigors are painted in a more naturalistic color scheme, instead of the more fantastical greens and blues used by Warhammer Lizardmen. These are a mix of dull grey-greens, with pale undersides (ala crocodilians). They are mounted on printed resin bases, which will be used for the rest of the army. The eventual army will be used for both Age of Sigmar and Saga.
I’ve been working on a new faction for Saga. I’ve already built a Christian army for the Age of Crusades, usable as Polish, Crusaders, Militant Orders, and (nominally) Spanish. I’ve wanted to build a force that can use the Muslim faction rules, so I have started the Moors.
The first models were posted a bit ago, but here are more. These are Warriors, composed of Berbers and Arabs in al-Andalus. Like the others they were built from the Gripping Beast plastic kit. The models are mixed in skin tones based on the melting pot of the changing borders during the Reconquista. Their clothes are bright and rich. I added patters on a few to give the impression of the Berber style.
The shields were a new aesthetic- I don’t have any experience writing Arabic, so it took some practice. I could fall back on my kanji writing however. I used simple flat colors or fields transcribed by bars, with a few radial patterns or striped fields. The Muslim proscription against depicting plants or animals means the designs remain abstract designs and of course Islamic text.
In addition to the Moors, I’ve also finished a unit for use in Age of Magic. I built a mob of Ogre Warriors for use as Bipedal Creatures, using models from Max Mini. The unit will be used as mercenaries for my Gauls, Polish Kingdom, Vikings, and Goblins. With this in mind their clothes and markings are a hodge-podge of styles, mixed from experience fighting in different battles. Checkers show up on a few of them (can’t help myself). The unit has 3 members, with 2 Ogres for 1 point; the third can be added for half a point from another unit, which will be the standard bearer to round the unit out.
The models hearken back to old Marauder Miniatures designs, so that was a nice nostalgic feel.
I’ve been adding the odd units to my armies for Saga and Clash of Spears.
The first pic are a unit of Roman Triarii. The veteran Legionnaires form the third fighting line of the Legion, lending their experience and skill when needed. They are armed with spears instead of pila. They would typically hold the line in a relaxed kneeling position, spears held to defend. I built the kneeling members from the Agema kit, while the standing members were built from Victrix (with Agema heads). The center member leaning on his shield is a metal sculpt from Footsore. Since he was so individual from the rest of the unit, I gave him a boar device on his shield- the same as the 2nd Spear Centurion, and the same as the Legion’s standard carried by the Signifier. His attitude befits a soldier who has seen it all.
They represent either a 6-man unit for Clash of Spears, or 1 1/2 points of Saga. The current Saga rules allow a player to exchange a single half point of troops for half of another (so 2 Hearthguard becomes 4 Warriors or 6 Levy). The six members are the extent of the unit size I’d like to use for games.
The second pic are Greek Archers. These 8 members are enough for a unit for Clash, but I will add 4 more to make a 12-man Levy unit for Saga with the Greek Cities (or use them for the Cretan Archers mercenary unit). Like the rest of the Greek force, they are Victrix. I tried out some brighter colors, using GW’s Contrast Flesh Tearer Red and Instant Ogre Brown for the yellow. The rest got pretty standard chiton colors.
The last pic are the test models for an eventual Moorish force for the Crusades-era Saga. They are from Gripping Beast’s plastic kit. I used pretty simple colors, with bright shields to contrast darker clothes. I got to try out my Arabic calligraphy- more practice needed but it looks ok.
I’ve been working on various projects, and I’ve also been working on my own stuff to avoid burnout.
The Republic Romans for Saga: Age of Hannibal and Clash of Spears are near completion.
I’ve completed 4 points of Warriors, divided into 8-man units of Roman infantry. The first pic shows 2 points of Hastati, The lighter-armored Legionnaires would serve as the front line. I painted up a unit with light armor and another without armor. The distinction doesn’t matter for Saga, but the armor difference is possible for Clash. Most of the Hastati models are from Agema, though some are Victrix. I included the Cornicen (horn blower) in the unit of Hastati.
The other pic features the Princepes, the fully-armored Legionnaires. These soldiers would comprise the second ranks, moving up as the Hastati were worn out, or filling in spaces in the classic maniple formations. The Princepes are almost all Victrix, with a few Agema mixed in.
The shields are a simple ivory white, with some having a split orange side. This is based on some art I found about the Battle of Zama. The shields can mix freely, or I can divide them into distinct units. In-game in Saga the units can merge or break into smaller parts. The Republic Romans faction rules mean smaller units gain various bonuses, reflecting the tactical nature of the maniple system.
The army will consist of Warlord, 4 points of Warriors (32 men, potentially divided into 6/6/6/6/8), 1 point of Hearthguard (4 Triarii), and 1 point of Levy (12 Velites).
Speaking of the Warlord, here is the First Centurion of the Legio. He acts as the officer for the army, since I figure the force would be a bit small to need the attention of a Consul very often. As First Centurion, he is the senior officer for the First Cohort. Here he is accompanied by the cohort’s Signifier, carrying the standard.
I wanted the Centurion to have a no-nonsense attitude, with simple bronze cuirass and feathered crest. The Signifier wears a bearskin as is custom. His boar signum is the symbol for the army, ironically also used by my Gallic force.
The last pic are the Velites. These skirmishers are the lightest-armed and wear only helmets for armor. Many of them wear wolf skins, a typical costume for the Velites, while others go without. The unit is a relatively even mix of Victrix and Agema. In-game I might divide the unit into 6-man units to cover more ground or generate Saga dice.
A note on clothing- I went with a somewhat uniform look for their tunics, with red the most common. White, yellow, brown, and green are sprinkled throughout.
The Triarii unit is being worked on, so they’ll be posted soon.
Adding a few extra units to the Dwarf Bear Clan army for Saga: Age of Magic I’ve been working on for a friend.
The first pics are a Dwarf Warlord on a giant bear. Saga factions give players many options for their Warlords. Depending on the faction, the Warlord can be on foot, carry a great weapon, ride a mount, and ride a beast (monster sized creature). I’ve already done the great weapon version, and I’ll be working on the basic mount version.
The Warlord is from Scibor, like the other bear riders and most of the infantry. The female Warlord has a nice weathered appearance, showing her age and experience. The blonde hair helps her stand out from all that silver and brown. Her bear is quite huge, barely fitting on the 50mm base. It’s covered in layers of armor and baggage. She even brought a keg for mid-battle quaffing. The blue saddle blanket and lining of her fur cape use the same blue found throughout the army.
The other pic the first of the Dwarf artillery train, a great cannon. There will eventually be an organ gun as the other option. Some Saga factions allow the warband to field 2 War Machines, so we’ll add the choice.
The cannon and crew are not Scibor, instead Kyoushuneko 3D prints from online. The models are still based on Scibor bases so they match the other models. They all wear leather jackets to protect against the fire from the cannon, but the blue trousers show their loyalty to the army. For game purposes the crew are only decoration, as the cannon itself is the line of sight and range determiner.
My Gloomspite Gitz army for Age of Sigmar is more or less finished. I’ve built up to ~2000 points. The last unit for the Gobbos is the Loonboss on Giant Squig.
The Loonboss rides a big red squig, while he wears a black cloak and dark metal armor. His hood is red like most of the other characters from the army, since the tribe are the Fire Moonz. This helps make them look more impressive, but also helps me find them on the table during play.
I like the animation and details. The squig looks like he’s just barely connected to the base. I added some extra mushrooms and rocks to the base, since the kit out of the box has the support shrooms in a single row.
The color scheme matches the Bounders, with black clothing and rusty armor, with white stripes on the lances to make them stand out. His lance is more dangerous looking, but the haft has the stripes. I added a shield hanging off his belt, using a moon face boss to further link him to the common Goblins in the army.
The Loonboss also serves in my army for Saga: Age of Magic. I’ve used the Goblins as the Otherworld faction. The mix of flying units, great weapons, and Hunter Warrior variants make sense for the Goblins hopped up on goofballs.
I used the new Loonboss in a recent game against a friend’s Wood Elves. He was fielding them as the Undead, with the idea of the forest spirits and Elves appearing from the trees to explain their unit resurrections. We like to try out all sorts of weird combos of models and factions.
We played a scenario I came up with, with 3 objectives lined across the middle of the field on the diagonal. The armies started in opposite corners. Control of objectives would give VP’s, with Survival VP’s added up at the end.
I’ve added a few random models to convert my historical Greek army to Age of Magic for Saga. They are used for Clash of Spears and Saga: Age of Hannibal, but only a few changes lets them enter the realms of myth.
The Priestess stands ready to aid the phalanx, a peacock feather in lieu of a wand, and her familiar owl acting as the eyes of the gods. The model came from the Mortal Gods line, and the branch and owl from GW’s Wood Elves plastics. The model on its own was pretty simple, so the owl adds some extra detail. I did my best to do a somewhat diaphanous gown, though avoided going too risque. Her eyes are pure white to add to her ethereal quality.
In games, she acts as the Sorceress for Age of Magic, or the Soothsayer for Clash.
The Griffon is the Scourge for the army. I painted it to resemble a Eastern Imperial Eagle, with a typical lion hind quarters. The model is from D&D Miniatures. with a pretty dynamic pose. The model can also be used for my Polish army for Age of Magic, the eagle being an important symbol for the historical army.
I’ve played a series of games with my Greeks for AoM. I swapped the faction for each game, changing up the roster to try them out. The system really allows for diversity of play.
Battle 1: Greeks (Great Kingdoms) vs. Lizardmen (Great Kingdoms). We wanted to see how a blue on blue fight went. The Greeks were mounted Warlord, Sorcerer (using a foot officer for the battle), 8 HG, 3×8 Warriors, and 2×12 sling Levy. The Lizards were mounted Warlord, 4 mounted HG, mounted Sorcerer, 2 quadruped Salamanders, 2×8 Warriors, 2×12 skink bow Levy, and a Coatl Scourge.
Both armies being Great Kingdoms meant the game was a slow shooting exchange, with a few units pushing forward only after enemy were softened by all the bow and sling fire. The high point was the poor Coatl flying in and getting trapped between the armies with the Blinding spell. It kept taking hits and blocked its own troops before it was finally put down. The lines converged until the Greeks were able to crush the Lizards.
Battle 2: Greeks (Wild) vs. Dwarf Bear Clan (Great Kingdoms). The Greeks were mounted Warlord, Sorceress (with new model), 6 HG, 10 Warriors, 8 Warriors, 10 sling Warriors, 12 javelin Levy, and a Griffon Scourge. The Dwarfs were great weapon Warlord, Sorcerer, 8 HG, 8 mounted Warriors, 2 quadruped Bears Riders, 12 firearms Levy, 12 crossbow Levy, and a Mammoth Titan.
This battle could have been more shooting, but the Greeks kept retreating and using terrain to cut down on most of the Dwarf efforts, drawing them in. The Dwarfs grabbed the ruins terrain in the middle to avoid my Ambush, which also put them in range of my infantry charges. Once the Dwarfs had advanced to shooting range the Greeks countered. This was a close battle.
Battle 3: My Greeks (Horde) vs. Lizardmen (Wild). While the other battles had been randomized Clash of Heroes scenarios, this one was the Battle for the Fords scenario. The Greeks were mounted Warlord, Sorceress, 6 HG, 2×12 Warriors, 12 sling Levy, and 3 quadruped Giant Boars. The Lizards were mounted Warlord, 8 mounted HG, 2×8 Warriors, 8 bow skink Warriors, and 2 (!) Dragon Scourges.
The battle was expectedly bloody, with the two bridges choked with dead. The Horde took advantage of their mass activation with extra distance to charge across and establish footholds on both sides in the same turn with Warriors and Giant Boars. The counter charges and shooting whittled the Greek hoplites down, but enough held to win the scenario. The two Dragons proved remarkably tough, with one saving 8 hits in one combat (and surviving the game in good health), while the other crossed over the river, requiring both the Warlord and Hearthguard to kill, costing my army time.
These are for use for Chaos Wars and Saga: Age of Magic. The models themselves come from Mantic’s Empire of Dust line.
First up is a unit of Skeleton Archers. The army colors are silver, red, and black. It serves as a nice ‘evil’ look, contrasted with the bone. The Mantic sculpts are ok I suppose, but they do lack deep details, so some parts of the models are shallow or sort of lacking in personality. I added a few shots from various angles, including one where the second rank can be seen better.
Next are the mounted elements. The Skeleton Horsemen and Chariots thunder toward the enemy. These have enclosed death mask helmets, which is pretty nice. I’m not a fan of the spears though…why aren’t they straight? The front member with the gold symbol on his shield serves as a unit champion.
Last are some Chariots. Each has a single steed pulling, crewed by a spearman and archer. These use the same models as the infantry, though I did mix in parts from the cavalry to reflect their higher status.
The last pics are not skeletons at all, but monsters I painted up a while back and never posted.
These are a Displacer Beast and a Gryphon, both from Reaper Bones. The models are nicely detailed. Being Reaper’s softer plastic, some details are a but loose, and cleaning them was annoying. Still, they painted up well. The Displacer Beats has a nice rich blue-black hide, blending to violet on the tentacles The Gryphon is a simple Golden Eagle color, with a subdued realistic lion color for the rear portion.
I’ve been wrapping up skirmishing units for my Greeks for use in Clash of Spears and Saga: Age of Hannibal. The latest unit is a group of Slingers. I’ve used parts of the unit for games so far, but I needed to expand the members to 12 to use as Levy in Saga. I kept the details simple, with basic leather bags and belts, with a mix of colors for their chitons. I added a sort of command group with a ‘captain’ with a raised dagger and a musician with a salpinx. The models come from the Victrix Balaeric Slingers kit, but I used them as generic Greeks.
The other new unit is a complete departure… These Ashigaru are yari (spear) for the Uesugi Clan. This is the first 5-man group, out of a final unit of 8. The army will be used for Clash of Katanas, the new expansion for the Clash rules. 3 men brace their yari for a fight, while a fourth stands ready, and an officer directs with his katana. These are the plastic set from Warlord Miniatures.
Based on my searching, the Uesugi Ashigaru were pretty uniform, with blue kote (armored sleeves) and black lacquered dō (cuirass) and jingasa (conical helmet). I allowed for some different colors for the trousers to keep it from being too identical. They all wear sashimono with the symbol used by Uesugi Kenshin, the daimyō of his clan during parts of the Sengoku era of Japan. The mon, the kanji 毘, the first kanji of the name of the War God, Bishamonten (毘沙門天) was worn by Kenshin’s troops.
When it came time to pick a clan army list for Clash of Katanas, I decided to go with the Uesugi, since I have recently finished a 15mm army of Kenshin’s forces for the Battles of Kawanakajima.
There are a few more Greek units to wrap up, and I’ll be getting to work on my Uesugi soldiers ongoing.
Among other projects, I’ve been slowly building a Roman force for use for Clash pf Spears and Saga: Age of Hannibal. These are Roman soldiers of the Middle Republic, during the Punic Wars against Carthage.
The Roman army of the Republic was still based around cohorts and centuries, made up of the 4 types of infantry, deployed in a checkerboard of waves of troops. The first was the Velites, the skirmishers, followed by the Hastati, lighter-armored line Legions, then the better-armored and trained Principes, with the veteran Triarii in the rear.
I’ll get to the Velites and Triarii eventually. For now I’m building up the Hastates and Principes infantry.
The first pic is the tough armored Principes. Wealthier and able to afford good armor and weapons, they could take on any enemy on the field. The models will typically be fielded in units of 6-8 men (depending on if played in Clash or Saga). The models are from Victrix, with a few Agema models mixed in. The Agema sculpts are thinner, so they sort of stand out, but not too bad. Weirdly enough, the Victrix sculpts are all carrying pila, so only the Agema guys have their gladius out to fight.
Next are the Hastati, wearing only light armor (or in some cases no armor, save helmet and greave on the left leg). They would fight first, then retire to let the Principes fight the weakened enemy. The unit is all Agema models, as the Victrix are all wearing mail. Them being the thinner sculpts also helps represent them as the younger men.
The Legionaries carry cream-white shields as their colors. I wanted a good contrast to all the red cloth and bronze armor. They aren’t uniform, however, with some having rusty red on half their shields.
Last is a doughty Centurion of the Legion. Being set during the Republic, the Centurions had more leeway on their personal decoration. This one evidently still rocks the bronze cuirass and flanges of the Greek style, but wears the transverse crest of a proper Roman leader. This character will represent a secondary Centurion, one from a subordinate cohort or serving as the second for a veteran Centurion or higher officer. He carries the scutum in the colors of his Legion, but his shield (beaten up from several battles) bears a boar to mark him out. The boar is also the icon for this Legion. The model itself is from the Victrix Greek Hoplites set, with arms from Agema, and head and shield from Victrix Romans.
Bughaus Miniatures 