One of my newest projects for 2007 is to Dark Age Skirmish battles in 25mm scale. I was inspired to do this by reading a set of "Viking Age Skirmish rules" by Ken Altfather called Strandhogg. These seem simple and fun, which of course is my motto when it comes to miniatures gaming. I've always been interested in Dark Age Britain, especially the time period just as the Viking raids begin. You have such a wealth of kingdoms of various styles and cultures at that time. So, I've decided to set my Dark Age skirmish armies for around that time period.
Of course, this may all have been another pie in the sky project that I never got around to doing, if it weren't for my friend, Terry Hollern. After reading my review of Strandhogg in the HMGS Great Lakes newsletter, The Herald (in which I mused over doing this as my next project), he telephoned about a month later to say, "I'm in!" Apparently, he founds some old 25mm Saxon figures in his closet and was painting them up. So, when I attended Cold Wars 2007, I picked up two bags of Old Glory Picts and Vikings. It wasn't until May that I had a chance to start on them, but you can see the results of my work on this page. I'll update it with new batches of figs, as I finish them.
So, I put these guys at the top of the pages because they're the newest painted figs in the Pictish force. When I went to Cold Wars 2008, I wanted to pick up a bag of Old Glory archers, with the caveat being they are relatively generic looking. I wanted to be able to paint them up for a number of armies. The best was the Viking Bondi archer pack, and that's where these guys came from. I will also use figs from that pack for the Britons of Strathclyde (next army), and have already painted up a handful of Viking archers, as well (see link at top of page).
I thought the guy on the right came out best, his red and black checkered cloak looks great. I'd forgotten what a pain in the butt it was doing all these checkers, plaids and stripes! Yeesh!!! Glad I'm pretty much done with this army...! Actually, I will probably paint up one more batch of Pictish archers, eventually. And then if I ever make the jump to having mounted figures in the army, the Picts will need some light cavalry. However, that's all in the future...first, finalize which set of rules I'm using, then begin painting Strathcldye's force, along with some 25mm civilians and monks I've picked up...
And here's Batch 2 of my Picts...I like the one third from the right -- his red-brown and black tartan looks great in person:
And here's Batch #3...4 heavily-tattooed, semi-naked Javelinmen and 4 keeping their clothes on:
I saved these guys for last from the Old Glory bag. I figured these were the wealthier Picts as they are dressed in tunic and cloak, for the most part. I really like how the gray-haired leader's blue and gold shield came out. However, I'm not quite as happy with how the younger, cowled leader's shield with the bird on it came out. The musicians turned out great, though, and like the way Old Glory cast their cloaks wrapped around them.
And the final batch: The Pictish leaders. Both the Druid and the Army Commander are from Alternative Armies' line of fantasy Celtic mythos. The two standard bearers are from the Old Glory pack. I really like the green and red color scheme on the leader. I also liked how the tattoes on his forearms and the detail on his arm bracelets turned out. I may have gone overboard on the green eyes, but what the heck? I also gave the Druid some slanting, blue ones to give him that aura of mystery. Of course, the current mystery will be how to use him in my skirmish games, but I'm sure I'll find a way!
And here's a close up of the leader's upper section...
And finally, here's a montage of the various shields I painted for my Picts...or at least the ones I think turned out particularly well. Of course, no decals. These are all hand painted!
