A new period of history for a new year. I have delved back into the early Dark Ages (or early Medieval if you prefer). This has been a little while starting properly with many stops and starts. But finally I have my first packet of figures completely finished. These are the Victrix Early Saxon Armoured Warriors.
So, the stops and starts were caused by my enthusiasm waning after having to assemble plastic figures of so many parts. The Late Romans/British are built and undercoated but I put those to the side after building them, and I did the same with the unarmoured Saxons. When I put these armoured Saxons together, the enthusiasm didn't fade this time. The reason being was these are just such interesting models and I really wanted to see how they looked fully painted.
It looks like there are more than the 36 troops which come in the packet on parade and you are correct if you thought this. To my surprise I discovered an extra sprue of figures in the packet (which explained why I couldn't get the troops back in the bag once I got them out at home to examine them!). They were pretty tightly packed! With this extra sprue I found that I could also create a set of 3 command stands and have a Champion. I did borrow one figure from the unarmoured set just to fill a space on the stands. I will be giving Victrix a nice write up and review on their website in gratitude.
The troops went together really well. I would go as far as saying that these are probably the best plastic figures that I have assembled yet. I really like the options of different heads, arms and weapons to go with bodies. What makes these really so much easier to build than some I have previously assembled, is that you are not robbing another figure of an arm for the choice that you make. Having several options of arms for each torso means that there will no odd mismatches left over at the end for some poor unfortunate figure. You are left with a lot of spare bits but that is no bad thing.
For several years I have been wanting to play the 'Dux Brittaniarum' rules. I have playtested them and they are fun. Midgard came along recently and I really like some of the concepts in those rules though I have yet to play them. I know that I will play 'Hail Caesar' with these troops too so these warriors will get a lot of use.
Both Dux Brittaniarum and Midgard highlight the importance of leaders and champions hence the addition of the champion shown above and below here. The ability to have challenges and single combat will add another historical aspect which will make this period especially interesting to play.
I must admit that I have also just read the Bernard Cornwell 'Warlord Trilogy' set in Early Saxon times and these are some of the best books I have ever read. They are absolutely superb! Just these books alone filled me with an enthusiasm to paint these to a conclusion.
These troops are also known as 'Geodriht' which Midgard describe as Hearthguard. They are certainly very well equipped. The mail armour and very expensive looking helmets show that these men gained much in the way of riches with their plunder and gifts from their lord. There are a few Sutton Hoo style masked helmets - possibly a slight excess - but they were fun to paint up. I will have to paint up a lot of poorer infantry to get these into more proportionate balance...but all in good time!
There is a nice selection of scale and leather armour as well as mail, and 3 choices of shield types. For those who subscribe to the small shield doctrine, there are plenty in the box. Personally, I went with the larger shields. I'm not convinced by the argument that small shields were carried because they had to invade from boats so wanted something lighter to move with. The Vikings don't appear to be hampered by larger shields, so neither are my troops. I'm in the big shield party!
Again, so many different theories exist about their tactics and that the Saxons used solely heavy skirmish/loose warband tactics, but I can't help but think that the Saxons would have adopted the shieldwall tactic pretty quickly too. Once they encountered the British in hard to crack solid defensive shield wall formations, I am sure that the Saxons would have found that using the same tactic was the best way to even up the battle.
I like the large number of cloaks and fur collars, giving protection from the elements on campaign and as additional armour (and as a display of wealth).
The banners and shield transfers are by the excellent Little Big Man Studios who are now part of Victrix.
I'm still experimenting with cameras - no flash used above and flash used below. I'm not sure which is the best method to use. The flash brings out more details and colour, but sometimes gives a yellow hue and makes the figure look a bit shiny. It's a tough call.
I then remind myself that my surname is completely Saxon and that those villains were my ancestors and I am almost certainly descended from the hated invaders! British history is so interesting!
I guess I am going to have to paint my Romano-British now to pit against these (though I do have some Late Romans from Gripping Beast which should stand in quite nicely). I must say that I do fancy a painting break so will put my energies into a time travel of history and play some games instead.
A few more pictures below. I would normally paint these figures in different groups, i.e. command separate from the troops and post on the blog in the same manner, but I just enjoyed doing these so much that I have done them as one huge batch!
I have got my American Civil War books out and have just purchased Brigade Fire and Fury 2nd Edition. I am so looking forward to playing Fire and Fury again, it's been so many years and I had such great fun with 1st Edition, I don't know why I stopped playing with them. The pages are falling out now - it has done well for 35 years though. Hence the 2nd Edition, and I like the little changes that are in there.
So I shall park the battles in Wessex and Mercia for a little while I delve into the campaigns of Lee and Bragg in various campaigns in America!
