28mm Norman-era spearmen & knights

I picked up some great value Saga Norman/Crusader figures at a Bring and Buy a while ago, and have been working out ways of using them also for L'Art de la Guerre.

For the Knights the answer has been to buy a few more mounted figures, based them up on 60x60's to create some extra bases, each with a single figure and two metal-shod strips either side of them. The Saga-based knights can then magnetize onto theses bases, meaning that I get a 3-knight base for the "cost" of just one extra figure.

I'm not planning on using a full Norman army in ADLG (just yet...) but these guys will be a nice Christian Spanish allied contingent for the 28mm Arabs I'm planning on painting sometime next year.

That allied contingent will probably need a couple of bases of Crusader / Spanish spearmen units, so I did pick up 2 packs of Crusader Miniatures Normans who painted up very easily and quickly.

The men are all undercoated in black then quickly painted in a simple uniform colour, which barely shows as there is chainmail covering most of them anyway. The shields are intended to look "Spanish".

These are the Saga spearmen I picked up in the Bring & Buy - their basing is just too big to work using sabots to turn them into close-formation ADLG spears, hence the need for extra figures, but the shield patterns gave me a good key for the rest of the men I painted up to match them.

Some nice and simple figures, and a quick paint job making a ready made allied contingent. 

Saga V2 - a short and hairy summary of the changes from V1

The new version of Saga (V2) is getting great early reviews at CLWC, with a cleaner and simpler set of mechanics that appear at first glance to be less susceptible to being "gamed" than V1.

The club have cobbled together a summary of the key changes we have found so far which you can download from the CLWC club page

Hopefully it's of use and encourages you to have a punt on this new (and we already think, "better") edition of a great and very popular ruleset.

This is a totally unofficial summary of the changes between versions, so let me know if you spot any errors! 

Projects You Probably Shouldn't Start...

Cheap Gripping Beast plastic Arabs are really cool - I have a load for a Saga army that I painted up a couple of years ago.

So... it's then only a short step from there to "Wouldn't it be easy - and cheap - to make a 28mm L'Art de la Guerre generic Arab army mainly out of plastic figures?"

The maths is actually not too bad..

• 2 boxes of cavalry = 24 figures, which is 6 bases of HC/MC and 3 bases of LH

Add in a box of Foreforge Mongol Cavalry for variety and you're at 10 Cavalry + 6 LH for the mounted, which is more than enough for most 200 point armies.

So, the foot...

• 1 box of infantry = 44 figures, which is 4 LI and 6 more Medium Foot sword/spear/bowmen

That brings you to about £80 (if you get a good price on eBay for the Gripping Beast Arab boxes) for 26 units.

Add in a few Generals from GB, Footsore and others and it's the core of a solid 28mm Generic Arab army for just under £100.

But... then you realise that the GB boxes (foot and mounted) both have more heads than figures, so you then think about using these spare heads to add to...

• 2-3 more sprues of GB Vikings and Fireforge Byzantine & Russian infantry bought separately off eBay = another 20-odd armoured figures that could be kit-bashed into more elite Arab warriors, or mixed in with the others anyway for more variety.
• And then, why not buy some metal foot for even more variety in the BTD sale ?   

So... a project is born.

Of course, the starting point is not the simple stuff. You pick up a Fireforge Byzantine warrior, add in a GB Arab head and shield, and fashion a longer skirt out of Ronseal wood filler.

Here's what that guy looks like right now...

And again, after a lick of paint

It's the point at which you start thinking about adding in a couple of Victrix elephants, and replacing the howdah and crew with Essex Arab elephant crew that it starts to get silly...

Saga - the return...

Having not played Saga in just over 2 years I wheeled out the Vikings (in a no Cross & Crescent allowed) event in Reading today - and demonstrated how important it is to practice, finishing with nul points out of 3 games.

Admittedly there were times when I didn't have the rub of the green - facing Jomsvikings and their movement-denying Wrath tricks in a scenario where you had to move your troops around to occupy table quarters, and then a previously unseen internet-only Anglo-Danish monstrosity which had three units of un-killable fully armoured Warriors who I had to try and cut through to Kill the Leader...  although forgetting I had the option to re-roll 29 dice in one attack also played a part!

Anyway, the mostly-Foundry figures got out of the foam padding and onto the table, so that bit was a success.

Here are some photos of the boys in action (click on any image to see the full size version)

"Lite" Saga battle reports using Saracens

I recently took part in a 1-day Saga event at Central London Club and managed to get my newish 28mm Arabs out on table - a mix of GB plastics, Perry mounted and some Artizan Designs infantry for extra variety.

The report is more a collection of photos and some comments on using the army than a proper report, as I had to concentrate to remember the rules and learn how to use the previously-untried army, and with a short time frame for each game it would have been unfair on my opponents to have been faffing around with too many photos.

Anyways, to see the Arabs in action follow this link

Some Saga Warbands - being sold off on eBay

I've recently listed 4 Saga Warbands on eBay - they are figures I was selling for a friend, so you probably won't recognise the figures from previous disastrous match reports!

The eBay listing included 2 Norman/Christian armies, one Viking-type Warband and an Arab Warband that can be most any of the Arab factions. As they have now departed my possession I thought it worth sharing the photos here.

All I have done is re-base them, and also photographed them with my new model-railway-inspired backdrop - which I think adds a surprising amount to the pictures.