Gripping Beast Dark Age Project

[paintpig]

I bought a 2nd hand Saxon army a few weeks ago, looking at building a force for Impetus with some cross over to SAGA. They had a good basic paintjob so I’ll only touch them up to suit myself and I have been doing a few conversions with green stuff.

I’ll put up a post on my blog over the weekend with more detail but I thought you might like a look at what I have come up with so far. I’m not committed to the final army yet but I’m leaning towards Anglo-Dane or Saxon or maybe something like the “Great Heathen Army” which I believe was a mix of Scandinavians predominantly Danes and Norwegians. The majority of the figures seem to fit quite well in a number of scenarios.

 

I’m definitely going to try a Ragnar and Legather figure later and if I opt for the Heathen Army I will need an Ivar and Bjorn……. possibly a Benny, Agnetha and Annafrid too?

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[Norm S]

Nice, I always admire self sculpting conversions.

[paintpig]

Thanks Norm

All the gorey details on how I went about the conversion are now up on the blog

Linky http://paintpigdave.blogspot.com.au/2015/04/dark-ages-fun-with-gripping-beast.html

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[paintpig]

Based up a few javelin armed skirmisher types this week

Plenty more on the blog, link below.

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[Michael Orlando]

Great Heathen Army is a great, underused idea. As someone who can’t let a figure go unmodified I’m impressed with your stuff.

 

Lagartija Mike

[paintpig]

Thanks Mike, I’m glad someone else thinks the heathen army is a good idea. Two of us and counting

I've learned that people will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel
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[paintpig]

Just finished a bit of a write up on my Latest additions, mostly hot air but some of you might be interested. lol
http://paintpigdave.blogspot.com.au/2015/05/dark-ages-fun-feeling-all-anglo-saxy.html

I've learned that people will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel
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[paintpig]

Being a bit lazy here guys sorry but I have a heap of stuff on. Started doing some more conversion work on my Saxons, heaps of photo’s and unnecessary spiel on the blog so I will just post the link this time round.

http://paintpigdave.blogspot.com.au/2015/05/dark-age-fun-basing-and-conversions.html

I've learned that people will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel
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[Cerdic]

The Great Heathen Army is a good idea. I reckon you can use a wide variety of figures because History is not as neat and tidy as we like to make it.

The written record was made by the Anglo-Saxon enemies of the Great Heathen Army. Not just any old Anglo-Saxons either, but Anglo-Saxon monks! They had an agenda to portray their enemies in a certain way, ie barbaric heathens from across the water. Now, imagine a large lawless mob roaming around looting, pillaging, drinking etc. they are going to attract all sorts of malcontents and ne’er-do-wells. So if some dodgy looking rough geezers turn up and ask to join I don’t think the leadership is going to question them too closely about their family tree and cultural background! There would likely always be some minor warlord looking to add men to his band. Especially as this army was at large for several years.

http://28mmreview.blogspot.co.uk

[paintpig]

Thanks Cerdic, I’m particularly ignorant about the whole medieval dark age thing…. yes I am reading and getting a few bits and pieces nailed down and the GHA seemed a logical gaming arena with plenty of campaign potential. Any historical gems or comments are always most welcome. I think SAGA would handle village raids nicely and my rules of choice for larger battles is swinging in favour of Impetus, of course there is a long way to go with painting and researching so I keep plugging away at it.

Just as an aside I did have a brief read about the Investiture commotion whilst skimming in the library, once again a fight that seems like a very neat package perfect for a wargaming campaign, small battles lots of protagonist from all over Italy and Europe. And dont forget the Normans whats not to like about that?

My gaming plans for the next 12 to 24 months are pretty well mapped out, a heathen army of vikings romping here and there in dark age England followed by Germanic types and most everyone else with an invitation romping over post dark age/feudal Italy, jolly nice.

BTW I must say I really appreciated the comparison photo’s on your blog, it was a great help in when looking for figures.

I've learned that people will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel
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[Cerdic]

Cheers! I haven’t had time to add to the blog recently but I hope to get back to it soon!

I have played a couple of games of Basic Impetus and really enjoyed the rules. Some elegant and different ideas in there, I thought. A good choice for Dark Age/Early Medieval battles….

http://28mmreview.blogspot.co.uk

[paintpig]

Been working on some Normans lately though I did take a significant break for the last 3 months, trouble with the black dog. Still a few touches left to clean them up before they go onto an Impetus base. Crusader Miniatures.

I've learned that people will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel
Slowly Over A Low Flame

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