Saturday, 31 October 2020

Do we need more Saxons ?

 Following one of our previous games we were plotting something for when lockdown finishes. With the ever increasing number of Norman’s available between myself and Martin including a reasonable number of Norman cavalry it seemed that we should have a go at Hastings as a game. We have quite few Saxons which can be bolstered with ‘skulking’ vikings in the back ranks. Bit is felt we were going to need more unarmoured Saxons after all the history is clear not all the Saxons were heavily armoured. I pondered getting some more gripping beast plastics (which I still might do) but then rummaged about in the piles of lead in the dungeon and found I had these guys presumably picked up at a show. Mainly unarmoured, they make a reasonable extra bulk unit of generic Saxons.

They are a mix of figures some GB and Crusader I think, shields done quick and simple 🙂 they aren’t all strictly Saxon figures but I could argue they have picked up armour from their recent victory at Stamford Bridge !

28 comments:

  1. You always seem to be finding relevant stuff for a project! Nice work on the recovered Saxons!

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    1. I think I picked them up for a few quid at a Bring and buy and I just used random shields I had. I suspect most dark age forces were essentially brown and fairly muddy !

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  3. Nice proportions, poses and faces. Hastings would be a nice game to see. A couple of years ago at the Phalanx Wargame Show, Liverpool Wargaming Association had a Hastings game on a table that must of been around 4’ x 3’ tops in 28mm. I was taken by how good it looked with relatively few figures / units compared to ‘big Hastings’ games that i have seen in the past. They were using a home produced derivative of a DBA style system, with units based on 100mm stands - very attractive.

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    1. Sounds interesting.....I have to say I am feeling big is better at this stage and I have a picture in my mind of the hill on my 12 foot shed table. The good thing is there are lots of orders of battle etc out there. The challenge is splitting it down to smaller units rather than one massive scrum !

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  4. To me, your "simple" shieldwork is brilliant!

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    1. Thanks Jonathan....you might be being overly generous with your praise but when they are part of a huge Saxon horde on the top of a hill they will look fine

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    2. I call 'em as I see 'em and I like the work!

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  5. Fine looking unit and they look Saxon to me.

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  6. Some great additions and nice to see some of the lead pile finding there way to the table.
    Cheers
    Stu

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    1. Thanks Stuart......I am a devil at bring and buys sales but they do always seem to come in in the end.

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  7. Yes we do. These cool looking guys will help but another 200 would be about right

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  8. Nice looking bunch of Saxons, the GB plastic dark age warriors is a nice set,especially if you add some simple helmets from the armoured sets.
    Best Iain

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    1. Yep I have a box of the GB already and I like them, simple good quality dark age figures. I might get another box !

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  9. They almost look alive Matt. I'm sure that red-headed fella with the red shield is staring at me! Top painting, brilliant shields.
    Regards, James

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    1. Thanks James. Dry kind may be you have Norman Blood ? 😀

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  10. Fantastic looking Saxons, Matt! Your hand-painted shield designs are awesome.

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    1. Very kind Den they are pretty simple really , nothing fancy 🙂

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  11. Those look superb Matt! Very effective and would grace any wargames table.

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    1. Thanks Steve , think the answer is I did need more Saxons ....hopefully they will get a run out soonish ?🤔

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  12. Hasting is a battle that I love to see on the table. I’ve had designs to do it myself one day...
    The saxons look great and I think the shield designs are fantastic. With all dark age miniatures it seems the shields are the things that stand out. 😀

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    1. Thanks Stew....it seems an obvious battle and as a few have said you can scale it to match whatever collection you have. I am picturing something in the garden shed with a bit of space for the Norman cavalry to stretch its legs ! Hopefully in the spring 👍

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