Pictish Crossbowmen for my Saga army

    My final addition to my Pictish Saga army - 12 levy crossbowmen from Gripping Beast

I had been using my 28mm Pictish figures as Scots for quite some time before the new Saga: Age of Invasions book came out. Its appropriate, as the medieval Scots were an amalgam of the Pictish kingdoms and the immigrant Scots kingdom of Dal Riata. Together, they formed Alba, or Dark Age and medieval Scotland, which is the period the Age of Vikings book covers. Naturally, when Age of Invasions came out, I was interested in trying out the retooled Pictish battle board. I had never played the other one, content to wait for the new one I'd heard was on the way.

    There were four poses in the 12 figures, but with the tartan and checkers, they look varied enough

Troop-wise, the one thing I needed to get to really take advantage of the new list was a unit of Levy crossbowmen. There is both archeological and pictoral (no pun intended) evidence of the Picts utilizing an early crossbow. The weapon is effective in the Saga rules, and would be a great option to add when selecting my army. Previously, when fielding levies for the Picts, I was using bow or javelin-armed troops. My plan now that I have this batch painted is to field one of each weapon type.

    The checkers and tartans I 'painted' with Micron pens, while the other patterns were done by brush

I got the figures from Gripping Beast. Last summer, I had entered 8 Mongol cavalry figures in the Saga Thorsday painting contest. I was the "random" winner -- not the entry they chose as best painted, but one they picked as a consolation prize, of sorts. I held off for a couple months ordering anything, and Andy from Gripping Beast was patient and said take my time. Once Age of Invasions came out and I got a chance to play the Picts, I knew that was what I wanted. So, I ordered it, and they shipped it quickly from England.

    I found it easier to draw the lines of the tartans with the pens than I have in the past with a brush

The Gripping Beast Pictish crossbowmen are cleanly cast, and consist of four poses. That means there is a repeat of three of each pose in my unit of 12. That's not a problem because I planned on painting them up in a variety of colors, each with their individual tartan, checkered, or cloak pattern. After painting up my previous batch of miniatures (Mongol cavalry), these seemed to go SO fast. There is a minimum of equipment on these -- cloak, tunic, belt, quiver for their crossbow bolts, and the crossbow. I decided that I wanted to keep the cloak colors on a woodland scheme -- contemporary accounts say the Picts were great at concealment and hiding in ambush. So, no really bright colors. I also went with dun to light brown tunic, undecorated. And I decided to use my Micron pens to do the lines and checkers for figures who had a tartan or checker pattern. I wasn't sure how it'd work out, but I was VERY happy with how they ended up looking. These are better than my more recent attempts at checkers or tartans with a brush, by far. The ink in the pens should probably be left to dry on the figures for a couple days before doing a wash over them. I had one that ran a little bit when I washed it the next day.

    This pack of six Micron pens cost about $20 at Hobby Lobby

I also decided to put some flower flocking on the bases, like I did with my Carolingian army. I figured it would make differentiating the crossbowmen from the archers easier when I was pulling miniatures out of the box. Finally, I painted them up in two batches of six. Hope you like how they came out -- I know I did!