Andalusian Cavalry for my Saga Moorish Army

Four of my first batch of eight Andalusian cavalrymen -- 28mm Gripping Beast figures

For the longest time, I had a "standard" way that I painted horses. I had black horses, dark brown, medium brown, tan, dun, white, light gray, and dark gray. I usually gave them "socks" white coloring near their hooves and a splotch of white on their foreheads. All the horses I painted for my various armies had the same basic coloring. Then I saw a colorful, cartoonish chart on the internet that showed various colorings simplified - dappled grays, buckskin, black "blue" roans, and more. There were more than 70 varieties depicted.

The cartoonish color guide I found on the internet and use for painting horses - feel free to download!

I decided to experiment and try to use the chart as a guide for my color choices. I was VERY happy with how they came out. So, when it came time to paint the cavalry for my Andalusian army for Saga, I found the chart again and swore to myself I would not take a shortcut and paint my old standard way of doing horses. This batch is the first of three batches of mounted Andalusian troops for my Saga army. I'm very happy with not only how the horses came out, but also the troopers atop them. In fact, the richly colored robes kind of overshadow the poor mounts and you have to pay attention to notice the markings on the horses. Hopefully, the two complement each other rather than detract from the other's effect.

All eight of the cavalrymen lined up and ready for battle

I was a little disappointed that most of the riders have the closed fists that you need to drill out to place spears or other weapons into. I prefer the open hand that Gripping Beast used for the Moorish infantry I'd painted already for this army. However, most of my drilling attempts worked out with only a few misaligned holes resulting in the hand being half open, half drilled. I took the worst of those mistakes and widened it with an X-acto blade to place swords instead of spears in their hands. But that is getting ahead of myself!

Close up of the other four Andalusian cavalrymen for my Saga Moorish army

I actually began with the horses, and painted all eight of them completely before beginning the riders. I even had them based and flocked before the riders had anything more than primer on them. This was a change in my methods, as well. Normally, I epoxy the figure to the horse before priming. However, with the patterns on the robes being so intricate, I thought it might be better to paint the riders separately and then epoxy them to the horses after completed. It did make turning the riders around, sideways, and upside down easier, which allowed me to execute the patterns with a minimum of struggle. Wait a minute...am I getting ahead of myself again??

The dappled gray - I honestly feel the rider overshadows the mount with his fancy shield and dotted headdress

Back to the horses! So, after cleaning up the very minimal flash on the miniatures (I am becoming more and more of a fan of Gripping Beast metal miniatures), I attached the horses to cardboard squares with white glue. Next, I brush-primed them with white acrylic craft paint. Then, I grabbed the chart and wrote onto the cardboard square which type of coloring I would use for each horse. One of my favorite 28mm horses that I have ever painted is a dappled gray in my Welsh army, so of course I would try one of those! Now, before anyone comments at the end of my blog that a particular marking I chose was not around in Andalusia during the Middle Ages, I want them to know I realize that is a possibility. I am trying to make my horses look more realistic than my cookie-cutter method I used before.

I really like using this chart for my horse coloring -- it really makes the mounts "pop" and look more realistic

The horse coloring was done first, and it actually made painting horses more enjoyable doing it this way. Normally, I look at horses as drudgery and focus my enthusiasm on the riders and infantry. However, I like how these look, and it is inspiring to see them begin to look lifelike while painting. That said, there was a lot of horse equipment -- each mount had some sort of saddle blanket, as well as reins, bridle, saddle, straps -- you name it! Quite a few even had tassels. I decided that I would make the horse blankets colorful and indulged my creativity with patterns, stripes, borders, and swirls.

This was the only shield I painted Arabic calligraphy on -- which matches the horse coloring, too (lucky accident!)

As mentioned earlier, once the horses were done, I went ahead and based and flocked them, too. I use 1"x2" rectangles for my horses (infantry are 1" squares). I actually use two of those infantry bases epoxied to a 1"x2" piece of styrene plastic. So, the cavalry bases are a fraction taller than the infantry ones, and if you look you can see the separation of the two bases. Yes, I could probably order some Litko 1"x2" bases, but I haven't painted cavalry in so long that I didn't see the need.  Anyway, I also added in a larger stone on each base (coarse buff talus from Woodland Scenics), as well as the usual scatter of small rocks (medium buff talus). I washed the larger stones with a black wash to give them more depth. I really like how the basing turned it on this batch of cavalry!

One of the riders that was given a spare 28mm sword I had instead of a wire spear

Once I was finished with the horses, I set them aside and began work on the riders. First, I attached their weapons -- North Star wire spears trimmed to appropriate length for six of the riders and 28mm swords for the other two. No weapons were included for the cavalry in the bagged army I had purchased at last year's Advance the Colors dealer room. So, I had to supply my own swords from my dwindling supply (though I recently ordered a restock of 80 wire spears from Brigade Games-- that should last me awhile!).

When I Googled Andalusian shields I saw a leopard skin one, so I HAD to paint one this way -- I like it!

I decided to attach the riders to squares of cardboard like the mounts had been. This is kind of tricky depending on the pose. I essentially leaned them up against something heavy, put a blob of glue on the sole of each foot and placed them upright on the cardboard, leaning against their chosen object. I did have two figures pop off the cardboard during the painting process. Once they were completely done except for their shoes, I popped them off their square. I held onto them with my hands, painting the shoe, and later while drybrushing the shoe and detailing the leather stirrups. Once the riders were completed, I matched them up against the horses, picking out a mount for each. I didn't want them to match perfectly, but I wanted the coloring of each to complement each other.

The double almond shaped shields seemed to be a common Andalusian motif...and tassels, too, I guess

They were attached by scraping off a bit of paint on the horse's saddle and the underside of the rider. This would hopefully give a metal on metal bond with the epoxy. We'll see if I have a problem with riders popping off as time progresses -- hopefully not! Oh, and I guess I lied. The riders weren't completely done when epoxied onto their mounts. I did the black and brown wash on the riders after they sat atop their horse. My system for washing this army is somewhat complex. The lightest flesh tone of the three I am using gets a brown wash. The darker two tones get a black wash. For equipment and clothes, if it is in the white/yellow/tan tonal range, that part of the figure receives a brown wash. If any other color (red, brown, blue, etc.), it gets a black wash. For some reason, brown washes don't seem to show up on the greens and reds and so on.

The pattern on this robe turned out to be my favorite -- that of the horse blanket came out not too shabby either!

I added in a couple new patterns for my robes this time, too. My favorite new one consists of 7 dots - a central dot and 6 around it. I will definitely be using this one, again. I may try to do a light dots on a darker robe color with this pattern next time. The three-tier, two-color floral pattern didn't come out as nicely, though. At least it is not my favorite. All in all, I was very happy with how the robes look on these riders. I'm so glad I went out and bought additional colors when doing my second batch of Andalusian infantry. I think the variety of subtle shades really add to the look of the army.

Trying to balance things, this rider got a simple border for his robe since I knew I would be doing something for his cloak

For the shields, I did a lot of Googling images, looking at Gripping Beast's web page, and of course the one I've mentioned before, Joe/Neldoreth from An Hour of Wolves and Shattered Shields. His artistry is something I can aspire to, but never achieve. Before planning out what I will do for the robes or the shields for each batch, I look through every single one of the images of his al-Andalus gallery on his site. I can only hope that others see these pages of Lead Legionaries and it gives them an idea or two to try for their own tables!

Viking Column Fights Off Ambush

The Viking column marches across the table with the Picts moving in to attack at the top and Saxons at bottom

It was about time for another game of Tribal and our Dark Age skirmish continuing series of battles. I had created a scenario for a multiplayer game and sprang it on my players. The idea was that a column of Viking raiders were returning to their longships laden with loot and slaves. The countryside was roused, though, and their victims were on the warpath to ambush them and take back what was rightfully theirs. Our Viking players, Mike Wallace and Stelzer, were joined by our Norse-Irish run by Keith Finn. Gathering in the woods to attack them were the Picts (Allen), Saxons (me), and Joel's townsfolk.

The Picts emerge from the woods and move into position to attack, while some Vikings warriors rush to block them

I set up the battlefield with an open area bordered by woods running across the length of the table. The three Viking players set up one behind the other, each with a wagon loaded down with loot or a column of slaves. They were to center their forces on that. Meanwhile, the ambushers would set up behind the first line of trees (though I did not make that clear to the townsfolk player who set up in the corner wand was out of the battle in the early phases. The players were given 4-6 points to select their forces, with 0-4 points being spent on skills. The total used was subtracted from their Honor Pool of 15. Thus, a player who spends less on his force starts ahead in victory points. In addition, each wagon train or group of slaves was worth from 1-5 points for each under their control. The Saxons, Picts, and Townsfolk were attempting to steal these from the Vikings.

A Pictish hero faces down a unit of Viking warriors, while more Pict spearmen rush into position behind their leader

The Norse-Irish led the column, followed by Stelzer's Vikings and Wallace's bringing up the rear. Allen's Picts deployed to attack the middle and rear of the column, while my Saxons deployed to take on the middle and front. Joel's were mainly aligned against Keith in the front. I should have known luck was not going to continue for Steapa's Saxons, who were actually leading the campaign in Legend Points. In the first four turns, my four highest cards were flipped for Initiative, which most players consider an unfortunate waste of a card that could kill enemy. Pretty much all night my card drawing for combat proved fairly poor. I managed to squeak out a few wins in combats here and there, but my forces were being steadily whittled down.

Keith's Norse-Irish counter-attack strongly, driving a wedge and splitting my Saxon forces (seen sheltering in the woods)

Allen proved the most deadly of the attackers, inflicting serious losses on the Stelzer's middle Viking command. He was unable to keep up the momentum, though, against Wallace's rearguard command, which wore his forces down, steadily. My Saxons proved fairly impotent, destroying only one unit of Viking warriors. Despite having chosen the "Fearsome" skill -- which causes more losses among the enemy -- I seemed to be unable to cause many casualties to Keith's troops. On the other hand, my Saxons were being savaged by the Norse-Irish. Two units of warriors were whittled down to 1 figure each, and my toughest hero was slain in three card exchanges by a Viking hero. Even Steapa himself, was down to half his wounds remaining.

The Viking loot wagon rolls on as the Picts press home their attacks

The ambush proved to be a disaster for the attackers. The Picts were beaten back with terrible losses, ending the game with only three figures left on the table. My Saxon attack was quickly blunted, meaning I could do little to press home the attack or take pressure off my erstwhile allies. I escaped Only eight of my original 22 Saxons escaped alive. When the townsfolk eventually arrived on the field, they made a valiant attempt to pierce through the Viking van and free the slaves. The Abbot himself, swinging a massive flail wounded one Viking hero severely and pushed back the Norse-Irish chieftain. However, outnumbered, they eventually had to withdraw. The Vikings were left in possession of their ill-gotten gains, and the groans of the Britons continued under the Norsemen.

Meanwhile, the Townsfolk, at top, make a rush to free the lines of slaves, guarded by two heroes and one unit of warriors

In hindsight, I think I need to make a rule that the Viking players must keep at least one unit or leader in contact with the slaves or wagons for them to move. This would hamstring their counter-attacks more, and force them to defend their loot or slaves more closely. Perhaps I need to have the Vikings build their warbands with 3-5 points and the ambushers use 4-6, also. It might mean some attackers would actually get through the wagons or slaves. As it was, none of us got very close. I think our card draws were abysmal, for the most part. Luck certainly was on the Viking side in this game when it came to card play. Twice, units of archers drove off attacks of heroes or warriors in this game (both time it was Viking archers), which should have waded through them -- like the Vikings did when they contacted the Pictish archers.

A highlight of the battle -- the Townsfolk's leader, the abbot of the local monastery, drives back the Norse-Irish chieftain

The game was also intended to be a free-for-all, but none of the three players on either side back-stabbed their compatriots. Not that I thought they would. I figured it was be a one side vs. the other side type of game. With six separate initiatives, though, I think it probably moved a little slow. Maybe next time I will do a "side" initiative. When it is a side's turn to act, they each player on that side selects a unit or character to move. I certainly enjoyed the feel of Tribal with a clear scenario, too. Their seemed to be more tactical decision making in which units to move first, and which to hold off on.

The Townsfolk try to recover the monastery treasures and some livestock, but are driven back by a Viking hero

Here are the updated statistics after three games in our campaign:
LEGEND POINTS (cumulative Honor Points)

1. 40 Vikings of Jarl Mike W (Wallace, 3-0)
2. 34 Townsfolk of Camelon (Joel, 1-2)
3. 33 Steapa's Saxons (Mike D, 2-1)
4. 33 Vikings of Jarl Mike S (Stelzer, 1-2)
5. 30 Caithill's Norse Irish (Keith, 2-1)
6. 19 Picts (Allen, 0-3)

We finally used the Card Pool aspect of the Tribal rules, too. This certainly adds another level of tactical use of the cards. Players begin with a base one card in their pool, plus one for each victory. Here's the new card pool totals:
4 Cards: Vikings of Jarl Mike W
3 Cards: Steapa's Saxons, Caithill's Norse Irish
2 Cards: Townsfolks of Camelon, Vikings of Jarl Mike S,
1 Card: Picts

A look at the early stages of the battle - Viking column in center, Picts & Townsfolk in trees at top & Saxons at bottom

We haven't used the experience point idea that I had, yet. I decided to introduce one thing at a time. Perhaps for next session we will do that. So, at this point, experience points equals Legend Points. The thought is to allow players to purchase permanent skills that do not need to be re-bought every game with points from their Honor Pool.

Maybe I can design a true free-for-all scenario for the next game. Or perhaps we'll go back to the one-one-one matchups. I'll have to see what my players are interested in doing.

Bitter Tribal Warfare in the North of Britain

Steapa, at bottom right, encourages his Saxon warriors to exact revenge on their Viking foes across the field

I have always been fascinated by the history of Britain during the Dark Ages. Long ago, I painted up 28mm Vikings, Picts, Saxons, Britons, and Irish for use in skirmish games. I've used them with Song of Blades and Heroes rules, Saga, and most recently with Tribal rules from Mana Press. Enough of our Sunday evening gaming group enjoyed them to say they were interested in playing them more often.

In the center, Keith (left) and Joel count up their winning card exchanges to determine which unit won that clash

I pitched the idea to them of a series of games, with players controlling the same faction in a series of battles. We would keep track of Honor Points -- Tribal's ways of judging victory -- over the course of the games. Our forces (and leaders) would get more skilled, and hopefully a storyline would develop. I didn't want to necessarily call it a campaign, because there would be no map and no control of territory, or anything like that. Neither would it be a League, in which players are free to play multiple factions for the sole purpose of one-on-one competition. Ostensibly, the player's forces would remain the same faction.

The Townsfolk of Camelon rally to defend their fields from a horde of inebriated Norse-Irish

Since nearly all of my 28mm Ancient/Medieval stuff is for Dark Ages Britain, I encouraged the others who own figures for it (Keith and Mike S) to also field armies from the north of Britain. That accomplished, I've decided to give it a bit more of a framework. The factions would be from an area known as Gryme's Dyke, formerly the Antonine Wall -- an earth barrier constructed by the Romans before they pulled back to the location of Hadrian's Wall. Thus, in the Dark Ages, this could be the haunt of Picts, Dal Riatan Irish, Britons, as well as invading Saxons and Vikings. Our six players involved in the games so far represented the following factions:

• Caithill's Norse-Irish (Keith)
• Steapa's Saxons (Me)
• Picts (Allen)
• Vikings (Mike W)
• Vikings (Mike S)
• Local Townsfolk (Joel)

A band of Franciscan friars rally to the defense of the townsfolk, ready to use their staffs on the godless heathens!

 For our second set of games, we decided to use three of the four scenarios from the Tribal rulebook (#1 Revenge, #2 Raid, #4 Destruction). I used the order of Honor Points earned from the first game to let players choose their spot on the battlefields (attacker or defender on which designated battlefield). I skipped over myself and took the remaining spot.

The drunken Irish approach the stalwart monks, none too steady on their feet (judging by the cards they'd draw!)

Destruction featured five of my 28mm Acheson Creations Dark Ages buildings that Allen's Picts would be attempting to defend from an invading force of Vikings (Mike W). The attacker's goal would be to have a unit or figure spend an activation card adjacent to a building, which would represent setting them alight. Allen's placed his Pictish defenders in a forward defense, forcing the Vikings to go through them to get there. The drawback of his strategy was that, with half his forces not arriving till he end of turn 3, he would be outnumbered by the Norsemen. As it turned out, the Vikings did win the battle 13-7 in Honor, but managed to fire only one of the buildings.

The ending stages of the game sees the Irish force scattered and being mopped up by the Townsfolk

Since the games were being held on St. Patrick's Day, Caithill's Norse-Irish were full of enthusiasm to go out and raid the outskirts of the town of Camelon, near Gryme's Dyke. The battlefield represented one Dark Age hut and three fenced pastures with horses and pigs. The Irish goal would be to spend an activation card either in, or adjacent to, each of the structures to represent stealing animals or supplies. Led by a local group of monks, the townsfolk of Camelon were ready when the raucous (inebriated from celebrating St. Patrick's Day?) Irish arrived. The Irish would have to attack and drive them away from their herds to attain any loot. Keith was certainly missing the luck of the Irish that night and was soundly thrashed by the stalwart countryfolk and well-fed monks who guarded the pastures, 15-3. The Norse-Irish fled in disgrace.

In the far game, Jarl Mike W (left) grinds down Allen's Picts, while in the middle Keith (left) and Joel count their dead. At bottom right, Jarl Mike S patiently shuffles his deck and waits for me to finish taking pictures!

The final game pitted my Saxons (named after the Last Kingdom's character Steapa) seeking to avenge a wrong done to use by the Vikings of Mike S. Perhaps a band of Viking young men had stolen into our territory and perpetrated an atrocity on our Saxon womenfolk. I was to secretly designate one of Mike's units as the ones marked out for our revenge. I chose his one unit of hand weapons (figuring he would think I would pick one of his leaders). I deployed my three units of Saxon warriors across my front, each of them backed by a character -- my chieftain in the middle, and heroes on either end.

At top, Jarl Mike S's Vikings (including the Ravers just to the left of the monastery beehive huts) charge into my Saxons

I noted that Mike deployed the ravers we wanted vengeance against opposite my right. I then began to refuse my left flank with my unit of spears, and crept the other units over to the right so they would all be able to gang up on hand weapon unit. The characters also stalked forward to be within movement range. As it turned out, Mike attacked first, driving off one of my units with those very same ravers. They then followed up their success against my hero with the fearsome skill. Mike's early luck with cards ran dry, and my hero pulled a number of high black cards. With each wound dealing an extra, my hero cut down the over-confident (dare I say "cocky"?) ravers in one turn of combat.

Another look at the Raid battlefield with its pastures

Each of us had our successes and failures elsewhere on the battlefield. However, I had the upper hand in numbers and a clear lead in Honor. I could have attacked and possibly destroyed another damaged unit or two, but decided that honor had been satisfied. I offered Mike a chance to withdraw, and he took it. Steapa was successful in his second battle, as we revenged ourselves upon the Vikings, 16-7.

After weeks of games, here are the "campaign" Honor Point (renamed Legend Points) won by each faction:

1. 27 Steapa's Saxons (Mike D, 2-0)
2. 23 Townsfolk of Camelon (Joel, 1-1)
3. 22 Vikings (Jarl Mike W, 2-0)
4. 15 Picts (Allen, 0-2)
5. 15 Vikings (Jarl Mike S, 0-2)
6. 14 Caithill's Norse Irish (Keith, 1-1)

 With the next set of games, we're going to introduce a new feature to the games: Card pools. These are drawn at the start of each game and can be substituted for a card that has been played by the player or his opponent. I am planning on each player beginning with one card in the pool, earning an additional one with each victory. So, for next time, here's the card pools:

• 3 - Steapa's Saxons
• 3 - Jarl Mike W's Vikings
• 2 - Townsfolk of Camelon
• 2 - Caithill's Norse-Irish 
• 1 - Allen's Picts
• 1 - Jarl Mike S's Vikings

And finally, the Honor Points in each player's pool are also accumulated as Experience Points. Unlike the Legend Points, which simply accumulate and "rank" players, Experience Points are meant to be spent. Players can spend 15 points to purchase a permanent skill for one of his units or characters. Alternately, the can save them up to purchase a two point skill for 60 points. Purchased Skills will be "free" in future games -- over and above the normal Honor Pool which they can spend on Skills. However, this free skill cannot be changed from game to game, but is a permanent feature of the faction's armed forces.

Obviously, the current Experience Point pool is equal to the Legend Points: 27 (Mike D), 23 (Joel), 22 (Mike W), 15 (Allen), 15 (Mike S), 14 (Keith). After two games, five of the six players can purchase a permanent, 1-point Skill if they desire. Or they can wait and save it up for a 2-pointer! We will see how all these campaign additions affect the game as we progress. I, for one, certainly enjoy the scenarios better than a straight up battle. Tactical objectives always make a game more interesting! I am looking forward to the next time that bloody warfare resumes far to the north of the old Roman wall in the land of Gryme's Dyke!




 

Another Blast from the Past: Viking Turf Hall

28mm Viking Hall from Acheson Creations (with dragon heads on beams and shutters and doors added by me)

I've decided to "rescue" posts from my old Lead Legionaries blog -- especially ones that show great buildings or other terrain. Here's one on a Viking Turf Hall that I purchased from Acheson Creations way back in 2013:

So, this beauty is my payment for running my Viking Raid game at Origins. Well, essentially. I was given $60 in credit to be used either at restaurants, dealers, etc., to go with my weekend pass for running my game three times at Origins. This very large terrain piece by Acheson Creations is one of their pricier ones, and I was hemming and hawing about whether I wanted to pay $80 or not for it. When Acheson's convention rep, Bryan Borgman, stopped by my game I told him about my indecision. He offered to knock a bit off the price for me since I was using so many of his buildings in my game and urging all my players to visit his booth. I accepted Byran's offer and I now had two Viking buildings to use in my Dark Age skirmishes. 


The building represents a sod-covered Viking Hall -- a building technique that the Vikings employed both in Scandinavia and the British Isles. Rather than try to represent the color with different layers of dry brushing, I hit on the idea of using Woodland Scenics flocking for the sod. I began with my usual black spray paint and watered down black acrylic base coats. Then I did a wet brush (essentially a heavy dry brush) over the black using my earth red color I use as my ground. I then painted on straight white glue and sprinkled Woodland Scenics "Burnt Grass" on thickly. While it was still wet, I also sprinkled tiny patches of brown "turf" and "Blended Grass" to give it some depth. I am really happy with how it turned out, though I think I had too much glue run down the roof and collect on the edges giving the turf an almost liquid look. I'm honestly not sure what I could have done about that with the slope of the roof.

 

View of the interior of the 28mm Acheson Creations Viking Hall. The only thing I added here was trimming up and gluing down some craft sticks as logs in the firepit.

As it says on the caption above, I modified this Acheson building as well. I used the same Dragon "Toob" from Hobby Lobby and cut off the heads of the soft plastic dragons. I drilled a hole with a pin vice in the beams, glued in a straight pin with tacky glue. I drilled a hole in the soft plastic dragon head, too, and pressed it onto the trimmed down straight pin. I also used corrugated balsa wood to scratch build shutters for the windows. One is propped open and the other is closed. The same material was used to create a door.

This building will be a great centerpiece for a "Hall Burning" or similar type scenario. Like I said, it is a bit pricey compared to the deal that most Acheson buildings are, but it is a very large piece at 10" wide, 6" deep and 6" tall. At some point soon, I'll also be painting up my Acheson "boat-shaped grave mound" terrain piece I picked up at the same time. Other than that, I'm done for a little while with my Acheson terrain. I have more to do in my boxes -- ruined wall sections, a multi-section bridge (which can be used as a pier, as well),  and various other terrain pieces. But I'm going to take a break from it and fill out some holes in my 28mm Dark Ages troops. Up on my painting desk now are 12 Dark Age mounted warriors. I also need to do some unarmored Vikings for my campaign (all mine are armored ones), some monks, and maybe some more Dal Riatan Scots-Irish. My next big scratch building will be coming up soon, too. I'm going to do a Celtic monastery inspired by the UNESCO World Heritage site of Skellig Michael.

Lead Painters League 8, Round 5

 

"When You Don't Pay the Foederati..." my Round 5 entry. These 28mm mounted Dark Ages figures are from various sources. I ended up losing this contest by only 16 votes -- 229 vs. 213!

 I had primed these figures up months ago. They are to be used for my Dark Ages skirmish campaign that I intend to run for the guys at the Sunday night gaming group. I'd painted a batch of six mounted 28mm troops earlier, and these were the last of the ones I owned. In addition, they were pretty much the last figs I needed to paint up to be able to start the campaign.

So, when I saw one of the theme rounds for the Lead Painters League was "Ancients," I figured these would be a good fit. They're at the outer edge of the period, as many consider the Dark Ages to be more medieval than Ancient. I felt that would be splitting hairs, and figured I would bill them as mounted Germanic tribesmen used by the Romans as foederati (allies).

One major difference between how I paint up 28mm mounted and 15mm ones is I go for a more realistic look on the horses. In 15's, I had basic colors I painted them -- a couple shades of brown, a gray, black, white, etc. The only real variety was in the white spots I put on their legs or faces. A couple years ago, though, I painted up a large number of mounted Wild West figures as a commission for my friend, Joe. I did a lot of research, and found a page which has more than 70 simple colored drawings of various classes of horses. Since then, I've used that page to paint up my 28m horses, supplementing the small drawings with Google images of that type. I've been really happy with how my dappled grays have come out using real horses as a model. I also liked the way in this batch the chestnut turned out. His subtle coloring and shading makes him (her?) my favorite.

I thought I did a pretty good job on the details for these figs. I even tried to up my game by highlighting the colors on the shields. I learned that technique from Joe of the "An Hour of Wolves and Shattered Shields" website. Of course, he is 10 times better at me than it, but still, any improvement is an improvement. And that being my final goal for participating in the Lead Painters League, I am happy with how these came out. I thought my scene was staged fairly nicely. The title was supposed to be "When You Don't Pay the Foederati" (the guy in charge dropped the "when"). The implication is if you don't give your barbarian allies cash, they're going to take their payment by raiding villages. And that was the scene I depicted.

Prior to that round, I had mentioned to a friend that the previous 4 rounds had all been clear wins or losses. I'd had no close matches. I should have watched out what I wished for! I started out ahead in this matchup with some nicely-painted 28mm gladiators (though I thought mine were nicer...haha!). I was up all sunday in the voting, and by as much as 17 votes. It remained close, though, and was cut to a less than 10 vote lead by Tuesday. Suddenly, on Wednesday, the voting reversed. I was down by less than 10, and finally just under 20. It was a very strange reversal, I thought. Usually, early voting is a great indicator of how a race will go, but this was not the case in this round. When I checked earlier today (the final day of voting), I was down by more than 10 points, which will be a loss. If I somehow squeeze it to within 10 or less, it becomes a draw. No biggie -- just a bit mystifying.

28mm Dark Ages mounted warriors finally finished!

So this unhappy few, this mounted half dozen, have been sitting partially-painted on my desk for a month, now. I was pretty far along with them when I made the decision to do my French & Indian War clifftops that you see in the previous post (Ohio Frontier Aflame at Advance the Colors 2013). The cliffs so consumed my time that these guys ended up just sitting on my desk.

 

However, with ATC 2013 and a successful series of games run there concluded, I was ready to finish them off. I picked up most of these figures from a flea market vendor selling 28mm Foundry incredibly cheap. They were meant to be able to be used as generic mounted warriors for my Dark Age Britain skirmishes. So, I wanted them to be equally usable for mounted Vikings, Britons, Picts, Saxons -- you name it. Two of the figures were not Foundry, and are Alternative Armies figures I've had sitting in my box for years. I knew one day I'd progress beyond just foot figures in my games to include mounted ones. 

 

The real reason they made it to the forefront is I plan to run a skirmish campaign for my Sunday night gaming group. They have all chosen one of six factions -- Saxon, Briton, Pict, Dal Riatan Scot, Danish Viking and Norse Viking. Each faction has a "special ability," and the Briton one is to be able to substitute a percentage of their force as mounted. Thus, no games could be run until I have the mounted figures ready for it...! 

 

Anyway, I'm pretty happy with how these guys turned out. Some I like better than others, of course. All of the shields and the one banner are hand painted (as you can probably tell..!). I particularly like how the horses turned out. I have a page I downloaded from the internet long ago which illustrates different breeds of horses. I decided that since these are in 28mm, I need to do more than paint a generic brown horse, gray one, etc. I think it makes the horses' coloring look much more realistic.

 

Next up are seven 28mm provincial troops for my French & Indian War games. I was inspired by how well my games went at ATC 2013 last weekend. My new format for running big scenarios worked like a dream. The only drawback was that meant I am using up pretty much all my miniatures in an 8 player game. If I have any dreams of increasing the number of players, that means I need more figures. I know, I know. What a horrible dilemma for a miniature wargamer...! So, I dug through my unpainted stuff and cleaned and primed a batch up. I expect I will also be putting in another order with Conquest Miniatures -- who makes the Indians I use. I love their figures to death. They are reasonably priced, gorgeously done, and have very active poses.

 

Also in the planning stages are buildings for my 28mm Pulp games. I want to set my scenarios in southeast Asia, with Indiana Jones wannabees digging through ruins like those at Bagan, Angkor, Borobudur, etc.