Rob's really, really, really good looking minis

15mm WWII US Regular Army

2011-06-18T14:32:00.000-07:00

Figure mostly from Old Glory, but there is a platoon worth from Battlefront mixed in.

15mm WWII Italians

2011-06-18T14:26:00.000-07:00

A platoon of Italian troops I painted up. These are from battlefront(Flames of War).

15mm Rebel SAS

2011-06-18T14:23:00.000-07:00

SAS in gas masks from Rebel Minis. Painted in a very generic grey, so I can use them for Zombies, moderns, near future.

15mm Support Weapons

2011-06-18T14:20:00.000-07:00

15mm Generic Support weapons. These are all from GZG.

Khurasan Space Demons (Aliens)

2011-06-18T14:17:00.000-07:00

These are Khurasan's space Demons. Based in black, with a couple of light dry brush coats of a stone blue color, with a final highlight mixed with pearl white. Left with a sating finish on purpose. I'm not sure how to finish the bases yet, so I've just left them plain.

15mm GZG OUDF

2011-06-18T14:11:00.000-07:00

These are the OUDF from Ground Zero Games. They are supposed to represent the Australian, New Zealand contingent in the GZG universe I believe. These are from a couple of different packs that GZG offer. I have the standard infantry pack(8 guys with 1 "leader" and 2 support weapons). Also have some of the kneeling and prone pack, which just come with 8 infantry, no prone and kneeling. And finally, I have some of the "bush hat" and "bare head" troops which are basically the same thing with a head swap.

15mm Sahadeen

2011-06-18T14:03:00.000-07:00

These are the Sahadeen from Rebel Minis. Kind of a near future desert people. They are are really nice minis. I wish they had a few more poses, but I can live with the variety available. I went with a 3 color desert camo and based just using sand glued to the washer with a brown wash in splotches over it.

2011-06-12T14:33:00.000-07:00

The battle in the bocage

So we played another game of disposable heroes and I decided to bring the camera this time to snap some shots. This was out of one of the "skirmish campaigns" books dealing with Normandy. The scenario takes place shortly after the storming of the beaches. We had 4 players, so we splait the forces between two German players and two American players. The board was played on a 2x4 foot surface. I had just started making the bocage and it wasn't quite done yet (I'd still like to flock it), but it was ready enough.

Troops:

GERMANS

1 Plt sgt  smg.
1- Sgt  SMG
1-Cpl SMG
3- SMG
5- riflemen
2-MG-42s

possible attachments.

1. lmg +assistant
2. rifle team - cpl SMG, 3 riflemen
3. sgt smg and rifleman plus rifle team of cpl smg, 3 rifleman.


US forces

1- LT smg
1 Platoon NCO smg
1- MMG
26 rifleman
3- sgts smg
3 -cpl rifle

possible attachments
1. Flamethrower, rifle
2. bazooka, rifleman
3. sniper, rifleman
4. 60mm mortar, 2 rifleman.

Objectives: The Americans had to exit 15 soldiers off one of the roads on the opposite side of the board. They would receive a decisive victory if they captured the farm house as well. The Germans had to prevent this from happening. The game had a turn limit of 7 turns to accomplish the objectives.

Before the game began we rolled for the random attachment that each side would receive. The Germans rolled an extra light machine gun team. The Americans rolled a flamethrower team. The Americans had to secretly decide where each of their units would enter the board (either the far long edge or the short edge closest to the house), then the Germans set out their defense. Any Americans moving within 6" of the short edge opposite the house(the edge on the bottom in the first pic below) was vulnerable to off-board light machine gun fire. The german's also had 2 submachine gunners and their platoon sgt which were reserves and would come on on a certain roll at the end of the turn.

Above is a shot of the battlefield. Below is a different angle. Lots of cover but some definite firing lanes.

Turn 1

Turn 1 saw the Americans come onto the board. They had decided to put the majority of their forces on their left flank to overwhelm the house and use it as a fire position to help advance their troops across the board. The Germans had positioned a Lt Machine gun in the 2 story house to cover that flank. They had lt machine guns in the center in the bocage and on the flank opposite the farmhouse with their lone rifle squad held in the center as a mobile reserve. The orange markers represented foxholes as the German's had dug in. The Germans also rolled the required number to bring their submachine gunners on in turn 2 whcih they decided to bring on near the stone wall to help with that flank.

Turn 2
The Americans extreme firepower advantage on the left flank is beginning to show. The Germans trying to hold the house take several casualties from the 4 rifle sections, the medium machine gun and the flamethrower unit. Flamethrowers ingnore terrain in DH so they are great against buildings. I had 5 d10s to roll casualties on needing 6's or less and only rolled 1 kill. Then the German's moved their submachine gun team behind the stone wall in the top of the picture and rolled equally poorly while firing on a rifle team that had left itself exposed to their flank fire; so it all evened out.

Turn 3
The sole American squad that was moving up the right side got ambushed by the German lt machine gun team that was guarding that flank and so, after taking several casualties, quickly jumped to the other side of the bocage. The Americans were doing better on the left. They cleared the house and proceeded to move over the bocage to make their ultimate advance on the house. The German reserve rifle team also makes a dash for the back of the house this turn to try and stem the flood of soldiers coming at them from that direction.

Turn 4
Turn 4 sees more bad luck for the german defenders and was probably the last turning point in the battle. The submachine team is obliterated in a hail of gunfire. The German team that was hiding behind the house dashed in to secure it only to be decimated by the US flamethrower unit that fires from the far left side of the bocage. In DH, if you fail a morale test from flamethrower fire you immediately retreat and you can see the sole survivor has run behind the stone wall on the top. In addition the Americans on the right flank get some really good dice rolls and take out the lt machine gun that was holding that side. The Germans now have the lone flamethrower survivor (pinned as shown by the puff of smoke marker), and a lt machine gun team in the top middle of the bocage(hard to see in the photo), while the Americans have rushed two sections up to seize the house.

Turn 5
With three turns left it's looking like it's going to be a decisive victory for the Americans. The squad that was advancing up the middle of the board inflicts a pin on the lt machine team hiding in the hedgerow, and then inflicts a second pin(both sections of the squad fired on the unit). In DH if you are pinned once and in cover(like a hedgerow) you do not have to retreat. However the second section also inflicting a pin caused the lt machine gun team(which was now one individual) to retreat. However, even with about 5 units firing on it, the lone German corporal survives behind his stone wall in the top left; I'm sure they were wishing we'd rolled that poorly all game. Not only did he survive but as an american section was charging the field towards his position, he rolled for snap fire (opportunity fire). While he didn't kill anyone, in DH any time you are fired on it forces a morale test. The Americans rolled a d10 and because their platoon leader was within command range, they needed anything but a 10 to pass the morale test. Of course, we rolled a 10, so they retreated back to the cover of the house with a pinned marker.

Turn 6
With 2 turns left and such awful dice rolls for the Americans on Turn 5, the German's would not conceed. However, the brave German corporal could only hold so long and so he died from .30 cal fire, and the remaining Americans on that flank pushed toward the board edge. In the center of the board, the lone German lt machine gunner, in pure Rambo style, jumped out of the machine gun run in the bocage and singlehandedly pinned the American Sgts rifle section. Seeing this, his corporal, heading up the other section of the squad, rushed forward and fired on the machine gunner. However, because they moved more than 3", the machine gunner was able to snap fire on them, and with another bad roll, this section was also pinned. While his comrades had failed to hold the roads, he singlehandedly stopped the squad on the right. As a side note, this is in large part due to the fact that the Americans had moved out into the open as they were feeling over confident, and also because big machine guns impose big morale modifiers in DH. I included a final shot of Kurt Von Rambo fighting off the American squad below.

Turn 7

At this point the Germans conceded defeat as they could not stop the Americans from getting 15 soldiers off the left board side. It was a decisive victory for the Americans as they had crossed the roads and captured the house.

Final Thoughts

All in all, it was another great game. It was a very tough task for the Germans to defend that much frontage with the limited number of troops they had. The scenario we were playing had each side roll for one additional unit and I think both sides got the best option available. The flamethrower was great against targets in the house as it ignores terrain and normally a building is -4 cover to hit. And the Germans got an extra machine gun which could basically cover an entire flank for them. A few rolls here or there or if they had guessed where we were coming on may very well have tipped the battle the other way. We all had fun, and that's the whole point.

2009-12-17T15:35:00.000-08:00

US Special Forces

Great little 15mm figures from Rebel Minis. I need to work on my lighting, which doesn't really help bring out the camo on these small figures. I used 2 greens and a light tan to do the US camo. I put on the medium green as a base, followed by "dobbing" on spots of the darker gray-green and finally dobbing the tan on. They were clean casts and super detailed. I really enjoyed them and have been super impressed with the Rebel mini stuff I've gotten thus far.

Power Armor

2009-12-17T15:24:00.000-08:00

Large Power Armor Suits

These are Heavy Gear minis. I bought them used so I don't know which version they are. Apparently there are two scales of gears. Painted two in an urban cammo and one in a German WWII Ambush theme knock-off. You can find scale comparisons on the scale comparison page.

Aztec Army List

2009-08-15T16:03:00.000-07:00

Name	VP	Move	Wounds	Armor	Magic	Morale	Melee	Missile	Special
Slave	5	6”	1	0	1	6	1/1
Skeleton Warriors	18	6”	1	2 – Missile Immune	2	7 - Fearless	1 / 2
Sacraficial Zombies	25	4”	2	0 – Missile Immune	2	7 - Fearless	1 / 2 - Str (2)
Clan Warriors	10	6”	1	1 - shield	1	7	1/2
Veteran “suit wearers” warriors	18	6”	1	2 - shield	1	8	1/2 str(1), first strike
Clan Scout	15	6” forrester	1	2 - shield	1	8	1 / 3 str(1)		Infiltrate(19)
Scout with Bow	27	6” forrester	1	2	1	8	1 / 3	Bow(21”): 1/2 str(1)	Infiltrate(33)
Scout with Atlatl	21	7” forrester	1	1	1	8	1 / 2	Poison dart(12”): 1 / 2 , d3 wds	Infilitrate(26)
Slinger	13	6”	1	1 - shield	1	7	1/2	Slings (15"): 1/2 Weak
Eagle Knight	41	15” flying, 6”	1	0 evasion(1)	2	9	2/3 str(1)
Jaguar Knight	29	10” forrester	2	2	2	9	2/3 str(1)
Qeztlcuatl	79	15” flying	3	2 fixed evasion(1)	3	8 fearless	2/3 str(1) magical		Base 4

Priest	318	6”	3	2 fixed	4	9 fearless	2/3 str(1) magical, first strike	1/3	Spellcaster: Death, Nature, Earth
Aztec Lord	106	6”	3	3 fixed evasion(1)	3	9 fearless	3/3 str(1) magical, first strike	1/3
Aztec King	121	6”	3	3 fixed evasion(1)	3	10 fearless	3/3 str(2) magical, first strike	1/3

Spugs -- 15mm sci fi

2009-08-15T14:01:00.000-07:00

These are the 15mm Spugs from Spriggen miniatures. I ordered mine through Rattlehead games in the US along with some Rebel minis stuff. I haven't finished the hover bikes yet, so just infantry photos for now. I went with the blah green and yellow scheme. Added purple weapons for some contrast and highlighted the leader and hvy weapons figs with some light brown to make them more distinguishable. I really like the figs, and hope he expands the range in the future. You can see some scale comparisons in the scale comparison section.

Aphids -- 15mm Sci Fi

2009-08-15T13:52:00.000-07:00

Behold the Aphids. Just some infantry shots. I haven't painted the skimmers yet, and didn't have enough space to photo the whole lot together yet. I bought a company from Zombiesmith a while back and finally got around to painting them. I went with three main color groups(red, yellow, blue) for the infantry and a turquoise for the leaders. The figures are a little rough and had quite a bit of flash to clean up(especially bewteen the legs), but turned out pretty well once finished. You only get one pose for the regular grunts. There is one "leader" pose with pistol. There is a heavy mahine gunner pose and a morter holder and loader pose. So limited variety, but they were extremely cheap, so I'm not complaining. To me, they look like turtles more than frogs. Seems like they even have a shell, so I painted the shell a different shade. I've also thrown up some scale pics in the scale comparison section.

Air Force

2009-01-25T15:35:00.000-08:00

This is the Aerospace force for the 6mm army. These are the longer range fighter and bombers. they are the plastic silent death minis from EM-4.

6mm Sci Fi Woodland Force

2009-01-25T15:29:00.000-08:00

The woodland detachment of the force.

Close Air Support
Like the desert froce, these are mostly silent death plastics from EM-4 with a couple of GW gunships. The clear flightstands were made from cheap plastic champagn glass stems from the dollar store.

Infantry
Mostly GW epic space marines, but some Scotia for standard infantry as well. The artillery is scotia as well.

Scouts

Standard and Power armor platoons

Heavy Hitters

Armor

6mm Sci Fi Desert Force

2009-01-25T15:16:00.000-08:00

This is the first of 2 main units I have painted thus far for 6mm sci fi gaming. They have been painted in a tan/light blue desert camo theme.

Close Air Support
Most of these are the plastic "spaceships" from EM-4, but they work great for 6mm vehicles. The big gunships are from GW epic(not sure which version). The clear flightstands were made from cheap plastic champagn glass stems from the dollar store.

Infantry
Most of the infantry is GW epic. However, the standard, non power armor troops are from Scotia, IIRC.

The scouts

The standard infantry and power armor infantry

The heavy hitters

Armor
The armor is a mix of GW and Scotia and Renagade Legion

Monsters

2009-01-25T14:53:00.000-08:00

Various monsters I have collected and painted for 15mm fantasy battles.

Air Elementals
Figures from Reaper I believe. Pianted two-tone to show the dirt being sucked up on bottom.

Baby Dragons
Used as yound or baby dragons. These are from the old Grenadier dragon lords game.

Basalisk
I believe this is an old Grenadier model. It is also one of the first minis I ever painted. You can tell by the block painting.

Dragons
First is a Warmaster model with an elf riding it. It's a 10mm model, but like many of the larger warmaster figures, it works OK with 15mm stuff.

This one is from Grim Reaper models which may have been sold to someone else now. Didn't see the paint chip until after the photo was loaded.

Giant Ants
These are from Megaminis. Poses can be varied by bending the legs.

Giant Snakes
The big one is from Grim Reaper. The smaller ones are from Reaper.

Giant Spiders
These are all from Reaper. Poses can be varies by bending the legs. I really like the spider rearing up on it's back 4 legs.

Lions and tigers
These are actually charms from Michaels or Hobby Lobby. Someone suggested this to me and they work pretty well with the 15mms. This was before SLM started making lions.

Manticore
These are from Thanes games. I think the line has been sold to someone else.

Minotaurs
These are beastmen from Black Tree Designs that I think work pretty well as 15mm Minotaurs.

Oriental Dragons
These are from Reaper minis. I painted them about 3 years apart because I wanted a second one for my samurai army.

Owlbears
These are from Thanes Games.

Pegasus
These are from Reaper(familiar pack maybe?) They are ok, but very flat models.

Treemen
These are from GW. The old dryads, I think.

Unicorns
This is also in the Reaper pack with the pegasus,

Water Elementals
These are also Reaper.

Spaceships

2009-01-25T14:49:00.000-08:00

The painted armada thus far.

FSE 15mm gzg

2009-01-25T14:42:00.000-08:00

FSE minis are from Ground Zero Games. They are painted in a "red army" uniform. I added a couple stars here and there as well, but mostly a flat one color uniform. It looks ok, and is complimented by the bright backpacks and bright guns.

Infantry
I used both helmeted versions, versions with cap, and kneeling and prone poses.

FSE Power Armor

WWII German Paratroopers

2008-10-05T12:55:00.000-07:00

German Paratroopers in splinter camo
Most of mine are still secured in pistol cases from my last move. But there were a few with the other armies so I took some pictures. These are a mix of Quality Castings and Command Decision.

NAC

2008-10-05T12:12:00.000-07:00

NAC

NAC Power Armor
12 NAC power armored troopers. Painted in a new camo pattern. Green undercoat with blobs of brown and yellow.

Phalon

2008-09-30T18:00:00.000-07:00

Phalon - 15mm minis from GZG.

The entire platoon

Regular Troopers

Phalon with Plasma Projector

Phalon with Heavy Pulser

Phalon with Support Pulser

15mm Sci Fi Vehicles

2008-09-20T12:24:00.000-07:00

15mm Sci Fi Vehicles
A few vehicle I painted up. These are all Mechwarrior clix vehicles that have been repainted(with some minor mods. I went with a pretty normal cammo scheme, sparayed the vehicles a krylon cammo green ultra flat. Added "stripes" of sandstone, then dabbed on smaller patches of a really dark midnight blue. A very thin brown wash follwed by a highlight of a lighter beige color. Then painted on the details. Extremely quick, and I'm happy with the results.

Combat Wombat Hover Tanks and Wheeled APCs/ Scout cars

Cheap plastic dollar store tanks used as light tanks

GZG Unmanned gun tank

Small Escort VTOLs
These are mechwarrior repaints. Done up in a woodland camo. They are a good size for 15mmm, and would make a good alrge VTOL for 6mm as well.

And here's some comparison shots with GZG 15mm FSE infantry.

Missile System
Mechwarrior rebased unit with the guy cut off.

Mechs
Mechwarrior clix rebased. No paint work done.

Walkers
These are based on large metal washers with the hole masked off with tape.

Tanks
Same scheme as above. Only mods were the access hatches. Just made some out of plasticard and added a WWII tank commader to one of them.

Recon Vehicles or small squad APCs.
Same mods, added plasticard hatches and a tank commander to one. Also moved the turret to the front of one and added a radar/comm dish the back from another mechwarrior clix vehicle that wasn't big enought o use with 15mm figs.

Sci Fi Scale comparisons

2008-02-18T02:53:00.000-08:00

Here is a shot of various figs with a ruler in the background. The shot was a little above the ground and it was from the bottom of the bases(20mm fender washers) so the ruler will not be 100% accurate but it should give a good idea of relative scale.

From left to right (FOW German riflemen, FOW American Para, GZG New Israeli, Alternative Armies Automoton, Command Decision British Para, GZG japanese, MW clix battle armor, MW clix Battle armor, MW clix Ravager battle armor(the big one), MW clix battle armor, MW clix grey death battle armor, GZG Kravak trooper, GZG UNSC trooper, GZG FCT trooper, GZG Kravak Power Armor)

From left to Right: GZG Phalon, Spug, Zombiesmith Aphid(2)

Left to Right: GZG Phalon, GZG FSE trooper, Spug, Aphid, FOW US paratrooper

Left to Right: FOW US paratrooper, GZG FSE, spug, Heavy Gear, MW clix Ravager

From left to Right: US Spec Ops(Rebel Minis), Heavy Gear, New Israeli(GZG), UNSC (GZG), FCT (GZG), Contractor Merc (Rebel Minis), Ambush Alley Freebie(Rebel Minis?),US Spec Ops(Rebel Minis), US Spec Ops(Rebel Minis)

Sci Fi Japanese Corporation 15mm

2008-02-17T00:54:00.000-08:00

Japanese Corp Power Armor
Two units of 6 each power armor. "yellow" and "red" teams as denoted by the insignia, uh... dots, on their shoulder pads.

I have two units. The first is in grey body armor with the unit symbol painted on the left shoulder plate. The second isn't based yet, but I put pictures up. Thye are in a new camo pattern I wanted to test out. It is a base green, with brown blobs and then random tiny white dots on top.

The camo unit.

And the grey body armored troops.

Sci Fi Kravak (predator) 15mm

2008-02-17T00:51:00.000-08:00

There are Kravak ("not" predators) troops from GZG.

First the Powered Armor.

Then the regular troopers.

Sci Fi FCT 15mm

2008-02-17T00:49:00.001-08:00

These are FCT troops from Ground Zero Games. Painted with camo shirt/pants and green body armor.

Mechwarrior Power Armor 15mm)

2008-02-17T00:44:00.000-08:00

These are some mechwarrior figures I cut off the clix bases and repainted/rebased. I bought quite a few of the MW power armor and picked out the ones that work OK with 15mm. They are a little small, but based up on a "hill" of putty they don't look that out of scale. I don't know any of the MW names for these, as I never played MW, but you should be able to check the wizkidsgames website to find out if you're interested.

These two are actually big enough and look good next 15mm figures.

These are the regular power armor. They are rougly 15-18mm tall each.

Sci Fi Automotons (terminators) 15mm

2008-02-17T00:42:00.000-08:00

From alternative armies, some terminator, robotic style troops. Painted in a "blue steel" scheme.

Sci Fi New Israelis 15mm

2008-02-17T00:38:00.000-08:00

Some 15mm Scifi troopers. These are New Israeli figures from Ground Zero Games. One group is painted in flat desert one tone; the other is in a sort of jungle camo (3 color).

I have based these in the same style I use for just about all 15mm's these days, glue to a 20mm fender washer, paint dark brown and glue patches of flock/static grass on.

UNSC 15mm

2008-02-17T00:31:00.000-08:00

Some 15mm Scifi troopers. I believe these are UNSC figures from Ground Zero Games; however, it's been a while since I ordered them so that may be wrong. I have been trying out many different styles and colors of camouflage lately; this is a desert version with sky blue as the disruptive pattern.

I have based these in the same style I use for just about all 15mm's these days, glue to a 20mm fender washer, paint dark brown and glue patches of flock/static grass on.

Arab Army

2007-01-06T17:22:00.000-08:00

This will eventually house my Arab army, once finished.

For now here is the tutorial on making a dervish.

And the tutorial on making carpet riders.

Dervish
Converted from Old glory arab spearmen(see tutorial).

Carpet Riders
See the tutorial above to see how they were made. Peter pig sells flying carpets but this works just as well if not better.

How to make Arab magic carpet riders

2007-01-06T17:03:00.000-08:00

Well, in addtion to making some dervishes, I wanted to make to carpet riders for the Arab army. I have to credit my wife with this one. I was just going to cut out a rectangle of card and paint it. Then she suggested I use fabric, make it stiff with a water glue mix and then shape it. These are really easy to make.

First you need to get some fabric. I am using muslin. In addition to scrapbooking my wife is an expert on fabric having taken several textile classes while getting her Bachelor's. I think any heavy material like cotton based should work for this. Just don't use real light material or polyester type. To get the frayed edge, which gives the carpet it's tassles on the end you need to tear the fabric verses cutting it. So start the tear with a 1/4 inch snip from the scissors and then tear it from then on the length of the fabric. Most fabric is 40+ inches wide so you won't need very much material. I made my tear at about 1-1/8 inch. This will be the length of your carpet. You will need to tear both sides to get this effect.

Once it is torn into a long strip (1 inch or so wide), you should have frayed edges on the sides. You can now prepare your stiffening mix. I used regular white glue mixed with a little water (just enough to make the glue a little viscous). Then run your strip through the glue mix covering the entire strip. This is very similar to paper mache if you have ever used that.

Now you need to lay your strips out on something that they won't stick to; I used aluminum foil. While the glue is still wet, bunch up the strips making creases and folds. This will give the carpets a fluid look. You can now wait for them to dry or cheat and accelerate the process with a heat gun like I did( another toy from my wife's hobbies).

Once dry, simply cut the strips to your desired carpet width. Mine are about 15mm wide. This will leave "tassles" (the frayed edge) on the front and back of the carpet. I have successfully primed these now and they are ready for paint. I have also glued small(approx 10mm) washers underneath. My plan is make flight stands that have a small magnet on the top. This should make for more durable transport. It's something I have learned after making my viking valkyries.

I have used some Ansar swordsmen and spearmen as my carpet riders. I used an exacto knife to slice the base away from their feet and then used regular super glue to glue them to the carpet. They appear to be on firm, but I suppose time will tell.

Then you just paint
Here are the finished pieces LINK

How to make an Arab Dervish

2007-01-06T16:40:00.000-08:00

Well, the only 15mm miniatures I know of that will work to represent the AoA Arab list (at least certain unit types) are from Peter Pig. As I am a big fan of Old Glory, I decided to make a few of my own. I envision the dervishes as wielding large axe like weapons and swinging them in a long arc to take out multiple foes (hence the sweep attack that they get).

These are based off of some 15mm Old Glory Ansar spearmen (from the colonial range I believe).

You start with some plasticard (some thin plastic). Other somewhat flexible but rigid materials that you can cut might work as well, like matte board.

Now cut the plasticard into 4mm strips(this doens't have to be precise, wider will make for a bigger axe head).
Using a regular hand-held hole punch (my wife is a huge scrapbooker so has lots of these types of devices), punch out about 1/3 of the strip on both sides. Unforetunately I didn't take a picture of this stage, so I just made up what it should look like in paintshop.

Next you snip off the individual axe-heads that you have made with the holepunch and glue them onto the spear shaft.

That's it! You now have a dervish carrying a long axe with a huge axe-head.

WWII Germans

2007-01-05T19:00:00.001-08:00

Regular German Forces
These are mostly Battefront(FOW) minis. They're mnay be some Old Glory Command decision and some Old Glory 15s Quality casting in there as well. These, the US Airborne, the Russians and my aztec army all got a little messed up during priming. I think it was because I used the same piece of cardboard to prime on for too long. But a lot of paint "dust" ended up on the figures and made it so they didn't get sealed real well. Rather than stripping them and starting over, I tried to fight through it, and that is whay they turned out a little "grainy". Still not too bad, but I wish I could have reprimed them.

Infantry

Tanks
A stug III. The only german armor I have painted thus far. I have a ton primed and waiting though.

WWII American Paratroopers

2007-01-05T18:59:00.004-08:00

US Airborne
15mm miniatures mostly by Battlefront(FOW), some from Quality Castings and Command Decision.

Infantry

WWII British Airborne

2007-01-05T18:59:00.003-08:00

British Paratroopers

15mm figures by Command Decision. About 24 are from Quality Castings; They are a little smaller and much slimmer build, but fine figures as well.

WWII rRussians

2007-01-05T18:59:00.001-08:00

The Commies!
All in 15mm. Same priming problem as the germans, see notes on that page. Mostly Battlefront(FOW) minis with some Quality casting and Command Decision as well.

Infantry

Tanks
T-34 76mm guns. The two in the back are Quality Casting(just a little smaller). The front three are Command Decision. One suffered some battle damage when my 2 year old dumped some of Daddy's toys 3 feet onto the tile floor. I haven't got around to fixing it yet.

T-34 85mm gun
Models from Commmand Decision

WWII Americans

2007-01-05T18:58:00.000-08:00

The Americans

Medieval Army

2007-01-05T18:42:00.001-08:00

My Lyonese army which pulls heavily from the viking force as well for infantry units. I will eventually get all the pics up, but for now it's piecemeal. All were primed with Krylon dark brown camoflaugue ultra-flat paint and then drybrushed in multiple layers.

Mounted Knights
Figures are the from Rank and File(sold by oldglory15s). These are truly awesome figures in my opinion.

Foot Knights
Also Rank and File sold by Old Glory.

Bowmen
Also from Rank and File.

Pikemen
About 50 pikemen from the Rank and File medieval range. Light to medium armor.

Orc Army

2007-01-05T18:41:00.000-08:00

Orc Army

The orcs were the 5^th army I made for AoA. The primary motivation came from the Lord of the Rings variant we played. That coupled with Eureka’s “man orcs” which are great orc/uruk hai look alikes were the selling point. I have since purchased a large number of BRF orcs which will eventually be added to the hoard.

The army as it currently stands measures out to the following strength.

20 Orc Warriors

20 Orc Spearmen

20 Orc Bowmen

50 Great Orc Warriors

50 Great Orc Spearmen

20 Great Orc Crossbowmen

18 Beast Riders with sword

18 Beast Riders with Lance

Cave Trolls

That gives me about 6000 points in core troops. This is not counting any characters or monsters.

All the models are from Eureka’s orcs and man-orcs range. They call it 18mm but they look fine next to my other 15mm stuff.

Infantry

Orc Warriors:

Orc Spearmen:

Great Orc Warriors:

Great Orc Spearmen:

Missile Troops

Orc Bowmen:

Great Orc Crossbowmen:

Cavalry

Beast Riders with sword:

Beast Riders with Lance:

COMMAND and BANNERS

Monsters

Cave Trolls:

Some Complimenting Monsters: Here are some typical monsters that get fielded as Orc Allies.

Dragons

Air Elemental

Wyverns

Roc

Basilisk

Manticores

Spiders

Minotaurs

Kobolds

Samurai Army

2007-01-05T18:40:00.002-08:00

Samurai Army

The samurai was the 4^th army I made for AoA. It is also one of my favorites. The list is quite different from other human armies, and has a lot of unique unit types which makes it somewhat difficult to get used to, but makes it really fun to play. When I finally saw the models that I could get from Old Glory 15s so cheaply, I bit the bullet and dove in. I still have about 100 or so more figures to paint up and add to the army.

The army as it currently stands measures out to the following strength.

50 Peasants

100 Ashigaru with naginata

50 Samurai

25 Royal Samurai

32 Sohei

25 Ninja

50 Ashigaru Archers

50 Samurai Archers

40 Mounted Samurai

16 Samurai Horse Archers

That gives me a little under 14000 points in core troops. This is not counting any characters or monsters.

Infantry

Peasant: The fodder of the mighty samurai. Peasants are dirt cheap but very poor combat troops as you would expect. I find them best used as a “mass” unit (meaning they are their to help apply significant morale penalties to an already engaged unit) or as a missile screen. I typically field them in a giant 50 man block. They care a great unit to cast flame breath on.

The models are peasants from old glory 15’s samurai range.

Ashigaru: These are skill 2 troops that can be armed with sword or long weapon. I have only used the long weapon variety, as that’s the only models I own. I field these in the 5x5 block of 24 men plus a hero. I often like to help them with fire magic, flaming weapons or fire breath being the two most common spells cast on them. You definitely need some of these units to help soak up wounds because most of the Samurai army is made of expensive units. Their lack of shield makes them a little more vulnerable to missile fire. You can compensate with good use of terrain or guardian wind if necessary.

The models are early style ashigaru (with the cone hats) from old glory 15’s samurai range.

Samurai: An overall very good infantry unit. They have a relatively low armor at (2) and no shield, but a very good first strike skill 3 attack and fearless morale. I have used them in both RnF and skirmished formations, and I’m not sure which I prefer. If they are supported by other units, I would run them skirmished so you take full advantage of all the first strike. I run them in units of 20 or 24 plus a hero or shogun.

The models are dismounted samurai from old glory 15’s samurai range.

Elite Infantry

Royal Samurai: Like normal samurai but with two wounds and 2 attacks. They are so expensive that I run them in small units so there is usually no reason to run RnF. I use them in a supporting role, surrounding an already engaged unit causing serious damage with their multiple first strike attacks. I run them in units of 10-13; there 8 fearless morale allows them to operate effectively without a leader.

The models are female samurai from old glory 15’s samurai range.

Ninja: A specialized samurai unit. I use them almost exclusively as infiltrators. They can pop in and use their missile attack at a critical time. Be very wary of enemy mages using magic that doesn’t require hits(i.e. firespray). This goes right through the evasion and can be very costly. I typically field these in small units of 8-13.

The models are ninja from old glory 15’s samurai range.

Sohei(monk): Another specialized unit. The 2 wounds and evasion 2 makes these guys very difficult for your opponent to get rid of. I use them much like royal samurai—small units that are helping out other units by dealing lots of damage. They come out of your elite points so they don’t see the battlefield every fight, but they are a fun unit to play with.

The models are unarmored samurai from Old Glory 15’s samurai range.

Missile Troops

Ashigaru with Longbow: Not as feared as samurai longbowmen, but can be effective if fielded in larger numbers. If I don’t have the elite points to take samurai archers, then these guys see the field. Usually in units from 16-24; I will often put a wizard in my missile units. This helps protect the expensive missile unit from magic attacks and gives the wizard line of site to many things (as my missile units are placed in spots with good LOS).

The models are ashigaru archers from Old Glory 15’s samurai range.

Samurai with Longbow: The best missile unit in the game, period. However, they come out of your elite pool, so you can’t have too many. Not only do samurai archers pummel you with arrows while you try to get to them, they then smack you with a skill 3 first strike attack when you finally get there; Oh by the way, their fearless also. Fielded in whatever unit size I can afford out of my elite pool, from 14-24. I will often place a wizard with them for the reasons mentioned above.

The models are samurai archers from Old Glory 15’s samurai range.

Samurai Cavalry with bow: Another great missile unit. Because I started playing with high elves, I don’t think I have mastered horse archer tactics. I am too used to putting archers on high ground and leaving them there. However, when I’m not playing, I can always think of great ways to utilize mobile missile troops. One of these days I’ll get it right during a game. These guys lose some range compared with the foot sloggers, but get a ton more mobility. They also come out of the elite points. I field them as a unit of 16, because that is how many came in the bag.

The models are mounted samurai with bows from Old Glory 15’s samurai range.

Rockets: I made some models out of balsa wood, but have not played with too much. With all the other elite point option in this army, it’s hard to take any. Seem to be a decent artillery choice, especially against slow infantry armies.

Cavalry

Samurai Cavalry: Good skill 3 cav with the benefit of being fearless. Give them a leader and they get real staying power. They are little on the slow side at 14” but they give the army some nice mobility. I field them in units of 16 or 20 plus a hero. They can also be fielded without a hero but once they break they will be “iffy” to rally at a 7.

The models are mounted samurai with yari and naginata as well as mounted female samurai from Old Glory 15’s samurai range.

Command

The models are from Eureka Miniatures samurai range.

Some Complimenting Monsters: Here are some typical monsters that get fielded as Samurai Allies. There are often no elite points to spend on these because of the elite options in the army.

Unicorn

Oriental Dragon

Pegasus

Air Elemental

Water Elemental

Giant Eagle

General Tactics: Well don’t take these as gospel but here’s some thoughts. The army is composed of some very good damage dealers. If you can tie up units with your non damage dealers (peasants, ashigaru, and maybe samurai), you can then skirmish your damage dealers(royal samurai, sohei) to help. The damage dealers cause enough wounds and the non damage dealers help put a penalty on for any morale tests.

The cav can be used to guard a flank, or roll up a flank if you have a battle line. The missile units are best used like any other missile unit. Put them on a hill or in the front of forest and deal pain to the best target.

For the most part, samurai just have to very careful going up against good missile enemies(elves and other samurai). They have relatively low armor and no shields, but unlike the wolfen who have the same problem they aren’t as fast. So it takes longer to get across the battlefield. Make good use of cover and use guardian wind and fog clouds to block enemy missile units.

I have yet to play this army with the new list Thane put together, so this is all based on the original list.

Giant Army

2007-01-05T18:40:00.001-08:00

They Might Be Giants

This is my mighty giant army. As I write this, they are still undefeated on the field of battle. Of course, they have only fought four battles. I wanted to make a giant army for a couple of reasons. First, nobody in the local area has one, or at least I have never seen it if they do. Second, with the large figures, it allowed me to paint them up real nice, as opposed to my quick jobs on 15mms. I wanted to field a giant army that had all unique figures, and when I saw the Grim Reaper giants, I knew that it would be possible. My giant models are a mix of many manufacturers: Reaper, Grim Reaper, Grenadier, Ral Partha, Lance and Laser, and Harlequin. The giants are very formidable, and pretty easy to play. The main strategy is to close as fast as possible with the enemy, using any cover you can on the way. The entire army moves 8”, so it is fairly maneuverable. Basically, once you get into contact the enemy is in big trouble, because giants spend most of their points on their melee skill and will roll through most units. Their bane is first strike and magic. Either of these, if used properly, can cause serious problems to the giant commander.

Young Giants:

I like to field these in a unit of about 4-6 with a marshall or priest leading. These models are pretty much interchangeable with the adult giants, if I need a larger unit of one type or the other.

Adult Giants:

I field these in units of 3-4, sometimes with a priest or marshall leader and sometimes not. These can also be used as young giants if needed.

Elder Giants:

Thus far I have fielded these in units of 3, normally without a leader. With their high skill and really high number of sweep attacks, they mow through opposing units. The two three-headed giant models are just for effect, they use the same elder giant stats. These guys can also sub as marshals in the young and adult units if needed.

Giant Command:

The Marshall is a Reaper mini. I have 2 more of Reaper’s Fire Giants to compliment him if I ever get around to painting them. The priests are from Grim Reaper, and although a little small, I think work very well as giant shamans.

Giant Ice Trolls:

These guys are Ghost Miniatures Ice Trolls. I just love these figures, so when I decided to make a giant army, I had to make up stats for them and paint them up. They are essentially, young giants without a missile attack, but with regeneration. Fielded in units of 4-8.

Minotaurs:

Minotaurs seem to fit fairly well with the giant theme and they offer nice alternative to the expensive corps troops. They also give me a shield of ramming monsters to use against the enemies first strike units. These figures are from the Battlemasters set. I have a unit of 12 minotaurs awaiting paint that are from Black Tree Designs.

Lions:

The lions provide a quicker unit for the giants that can be crucial for maneuver purposes. They essentially won a game for me against Thane, by tying up a unit and allowing a larger giant unit to engage a different target. They also have 3 attacks that can really chew up an enemy, who will forced to choose between attacking the lions or attacking the larger giants. They are just little charms that you can find in Michaels or Hobby lobby. Simply saw or clip off the hook and they are just about perfect with 15 mms. I should give credit to Brett who was the first of know of to use the charms.

Kobolds:

I know, as if the giants weren’t scary enough I had to go and add some Kobolds to the mix. Many an opponent has felt his heart grow icy cold as he saw me place these bad boys on the table. Often I am called a cheater and a cheesy opponent for even considering fielding the mighty Kobolds. Perhaps in the future, I shall make an entire Kobold army, but for now these 100 will have to suffice. They are 10mm pendraken lizardmen painted red to look like kobolds, and I personnaly think they work perfect as Kobolds next to other 15 mms. These guys are going to pull double duty in my Viking army as well.

Ettins:

Well, the Ettins certainly fit the giant theme. However, this is an army that doesn’t really need more huge offensive arsenals, so they may get limited fielding.

Titan:

This is a Grim Reaper model as well and is the best Titan model available on the market. The titan fits in well with the giants, but I’m not sure he’ll get a lot of use as the flyers compliment the army better.

Giant Beholder:

Are you noticing a theme with the giant creatures yet? My plan for this model was to be a spellcaster for the giants with some eldritch missile attacks. However, after hearing everyone(Almost everyone, anyway) complain about my unbeatable army, I have yet to field it. Maybe if I nix the spellcasting they’ll see the light. Well, it gave me an excuse to paint it anyway.

High Elf Army

2007-01-05T18:38:00.000-08:00

High Elf Army

This is my mighty High-Elven army. This was my first Armies of Arcana army, and it is also my largest pointwise, although my Vikings probably have more models. This was also my first foray into the realm of 15mm miniatures. I love it. It used to take about an hour to paint 1 28mm mini. I can paint a unit of 20-30 15mm guys in the same time. I’m not sure it would be the easiest scale to start in, but if you are moving from 28mm to 15mm, I think most people will be very surprised at how much easier it is. After getting down my techniques; prime black, drybrush on two shades of main color, do details, I can speed through units and still have a good product on the table. I have since binge painted entire armies in 2 days(see my orcs).

The basic premise of the army was to build it around core units and add other units as needed. The core units of my army are the pike, longbows, and Cav with lance. I also wanted to do a variation on the typical High Elf theme. That is why you see the Reptiles. I was going to go with a whole serpent elf(but good) sort of theme, but it turned out that the serpents have really just become auxiliary units. That’s OK though, because they are still unique and add a nice element to the army. Along with the giant snakes, my reptiles include a couple of dragons and a war iguana with howdah.

The army as it stands right now is of the following strength:
48 Longswordsmen
115 Pikemen/Halberds
52 Sunblades
60 Longbowmen
24 Acolytes
28 Cavalry with Lance
14 Cavlary with Sword
12 Horse Archers
24 Noble Cavlary
6 Multiballista
10 Chariots
1 War Iguana

That yields a little under 16000 points in core troops, not including characters or monsters.

Infantry
A very important part of my army. Why, because High Elves are expensive and these guys are the cheapest units available.

Pikemen/Halberds: I always field Pike, their long weapons often prove invaluable, and with shields they can withstand some missile fire until they reach the enemy. I will normally field them in units of 21 plus hero or 24 plus hero. I have only used halberds once. Their lower armor makes them vulnerable, especially to missile fire, but if your enemy has a tough non magical armor creature(AKA an 18 headed hydra) they can really do some damage with a Str 2 attack.

Longswordsmen: And rounding out the regular infantry is the Longswordmen. These are the cheapest elven unit and they get a skill 3 attack with strength and they have 3 armor with a shield. These are great as fodder to shield your more valuable units from attack. These also get fielded normally in units of 21+ hero or 24+ hero. Although larger, say 30+, blocks of swordsmen might also be an economical way of forcing morale tests on the enemy.

Sunblade: The elite infantry unit of the elves is the Sunblade. For almost the same amount of points as a pikeman you can get a skill 4 str 2 magical attack. What you lose is the second rank of attacks and the first strike from the long weapons. Sunblades tend to really scare your opponent and they will take the brunt of missile fire if left in the open, so use terrain or other units to shield their approach. This is also one of the units that often benefits from skirmishing to attack. Although you lose the morale bonus, you gain a lot of skill 4 attacks. It really is a good idea to skirmish around a big monster with fixed armor.

MISSILE TROOPS
This is definitely one of the advantages of the High Elves. They have great missile troops. A note of advice: make sure you put some skirmished troops in front of these guys(longswords are perfect for this, and treemen with their missile immunity work well also). There’s nothing worse than losing 1200 points of elven archers to the enemies missile fire. And that leads to the downside. These guys are expensive. REALLY expensive. However, concentrated missile fire will make most units route for at least a turn. Now on to the specific unit types.

Longbows-
Both longbowmen and Acolytes cost the same per troop, so I normally pick which one I want based on my opponent. If they have weak magic and tough armor, take acolytes. If they have weak armor, take longbows. Lately I have been taking some smaller units of missile troops(about 15-16 troops per unit). I don’t take leaders with my missile troops(because they only see melee at the end of the battle). However, I will often put a wizard in with the missile troops. The longbow’s great range make it a winner over the acolytes if you really can’t choose between them.

Acolytes-
I have tended to take these guys more often of late. Mostly because I have been facing players that like to use big baddies with fixed armor. Acolytes have a slightly shorter range than the longbows, but they have several other factors that make them really nice. First, both their ranged and melee attacks are eldritch, which means they are still effective against things like the undead. They also have a fixed armor. Even small units(like 10) can be effective, but I tend to group them into the same amounts as my bows(15-16). Just make sure you don’t let them get into a position to get overrun.

Multibalista-
I have 6 of these bad boys but have only used them in a game twice. Because they only fire every other turn, I get sort of turned off by them. However, if they do hit something, they can really do some damage, especially to a big high-wound monster type. I don’t know if my ballista tactics are just poor or if I have just taken them against the wrong enemies, but I have had very limited success with them.

Cavalry
The elves have 3 types of cav: with sword, with lance, and Noble Cav. I tend to predominantly use the cav with lance and noble cav. I have yet to see a good use for the cav with sword(because with a lance you get another rank of attacks and the long weapon first strike), but I’m sure it’s out there. I think my cavalry tactics are suspect but I am learning more by watching other players. I can’t seem to quite get it right on when to have the cav charge, and when I should outrun the supporting infantry. I tend to take units of about 12-16 cav+ hero. As with most of my heros, I more often than not use champions versus lords. Lately, I have been adding a wizard to at least one cav unit. The noble cav is a real head turner for your opponent. They are very hard to kill and they can do serious damage with their high skill attack.
Regular Cav

Noble Cav

Chariots
I based several chariots so that I could add separate creaturews pulling them, and swap easily between games(see last pic. These are all elf chariots from Alternative Armies.

Command
The models are from Demonworld, BRF, and Alternative Armies.

War Iguana
The model is from RAFM, IIRC. I got it from www.discounthobby.com.

Some Complimenting Monsters: Here are some typical monsters that get fielded as High Elf Allies.
Unicorn
Dragons of all shapes and sizes
Pegasus
Air Elemental
Water Elemental
Giant Eagle
Drakes
Treemen

General Tactics: You have great missile units, build a strategy around them. The missile units are best used like any other missile unit. Put them on a hill or in the front of forest and deal pain to the best target. Don’t get them shot up. Use a screen of cheap troops or missile immune monsters skirmished in front. Because elves are expensive, you will almost always have less units than your opponent. This also means you rarely have enough units to make a “battleline”. As always, use terrain to screen infantry movement. Use your cav to scare the bejesus out of your opponent. With their 18” move, they can threaten the flanks or threaten to make a mad dash across the board into soft enemy targets in the middle. The elves have great variety in unit types which will help you as you try to get the best melee matchups during the game. What I mean by this is things like putting your pikemen on the opponents swordsmen(taking advantage of first strike), putting your sunblades on those pesky trolls(cut right through the fixed armor), throwing some chariots at the RnF roman legionaires. Elves are expensive but they have great skill attacks and the variety of unit types to tackle almost any situation if you use a balanced force.

Aztec Army

2007-01-05T18:37:00.000-08:00

They hail from Central America. They ruled this land for hundreds of years. They are the aztecs. This is my take on a fantasy version of aztecs for Armies of Arcana. I am still waiting on some skeletons and zombies from Alternative Armies, but the rest of the army is ready. All of the Aztec miniatures are from Gladiator Games. They had some deal I took advantage of and shipping to the US wasn't too bad. I've had them primed for about a year and finally motivated myself to paint them. They are, of course, 15mm. These have been painted in my usual style for 15mm: sprayed/primed black, and then drybrushed up with a couple of shades of color. I have gotten quite fast with this method. It takes me about an hour to paint a 25 man unit, puting the time to paint one figure at a little over 2 minutes not including intitial prep time and final basing. Not to go on about it, but one of the reasons I love this scale is not just the cost, but the fact that you can paint an army to a pretty good standard in no time flat. The time it takes me to paint a unit in 15mm, I would only complete one model in 28mm.

The Aztecs are a new army for the game, and thus I have a draft army list for them. I spent a good deal of time reading up on the aztecs to get to this point. They were very into a "warrior caste" system. Therefor the army has regulars, veteran's and then the elite. Warriors could move "up" the caste system by capturing enemies in battle. Thus a 5 capture warrior would be higher up than a 1 capture warrior. It is primarily a skill 2 army, with just a few skill 3 units. The Aztecs didn't really have long spears or cavalry and that is reflected in the list. However, in game terms, this means they don't have long weapons or cav (which can be a big disadvantage), so I have put some fantastical elements in, still keeping with the general Aztec theme and remaining true to the spirit of the army.

You can see the draft list here (you should open this link in a new tab/window).
Aztec Army List

COMMAND and PRIESTS
Aztecs heros are good fighters but not over the top. Their priests have access to Death, Nature, and Earth. Death and nature does sound kind of odd, but they don't have it because they were evil, it was more of a fascination with Death. They were also very into the earth and the sun and basically everything else natural, hence the other two choices.

CORE TROOPS

Clan Warriors
The regulars are in padded armor with shield, thus the armor 1. They are basic grunt type troops. These represent the 1-2 capture warriors and priests.

Veteran Warriors (Suit Wearers)
These are in the body suits that were typical of Aztec warriors. I aquaited it to heavy hide, and with their shield that gives them Armor 2. This unit is representative of the 3 to 5 capture warriors and priests. They have slightly higher morale as well. Finally, as noted earlier, because the Aztecs lack long weapons I thought it would be fitting to give them a little first strike(but at skill 2). The gladiator line offers many different types of suits to make the unit look impressive.

Slingers
I forgot to take a picture of the unit. They are statted out like a normal slinger, nothing special here.

SCOUTS
I added scouts to represent the forestry skills of the people. The addition of infiltrating units also somewhat makes up for the lack of cavalry. There are infantry type scouts, bow scouts, and scouts with atlatl (a device that throws darts). All scouts have the forrester ability.

Clan Scouts
These are the regular scouts with hand weapons. There heavy hide armor and shield give them armor 2. In keeping with the other army lists, I have given them a higher skill attack because they are scouts (scouts typically have skill 3 even in skill 2 armies).

Scouts with Bow
Aztecs did not use bow too much, but they did have an elite order called arrow knights. Not much is known about them, so I have incorporated them as scouts using bows.

Scouts with Atlatl (throwing darts)
This device was used by many central and south american natives. It allows the user to fling a dart with force. They are in padded type armor so armor 1.

You can see the wiki info on the atlatl here.

ELITE UNITS
There were certain orders in the society that were the peek for a warrior. The two biggest were the Jaguar Knights and the Eagle Knights. These were the ultimate Aztec warriors. Since this is a fantasy game, I thought it would be nice to have these units take on the aspects of the animal their order was based on.

Jaguar Knights
This is another unit that can somewhat make up for the lack of cav in the army. They have taken on certain aspects of a large cat. Thus they get more movement, 2 wounds, and 2 attacks.

Eagle Knights
These warriors have taken on certain aspects of the eagle. Thus they get flight, evasion, and 2 attacks.

QuetzlCuatl (feathered serpants)
The dreaded feathered serpants. One of the gods the aztecs worshiped was depicted as the cuatl. This is a great model by Grim Reaper miniatures.

Viking Army

2007-01-05T18:36:00.000-08:00

Viking Host

The Vikings were the 3rd army I made for AoA; about the same time as the giants. I had been playing elves for a while and wanted to do something a little different, a little more “hoardish.” Being the cheap SOB that I am, I also didn’t want to spend too much money on my new hoard. Well for a hoard army buyer on a budget, there is no better option than Old Glory 15s. I like the dark age, and the Vikings sounded neat, with lots of berserkers and the warrior ethos and the rest … is history.

I bought a lot of guys and prepared them for painting. It was A LOT of infantry, and it might still be raw lead today if not for a 1 month trip I had to take to North Carolina. Away from my family and with evenings free, I took them all along with me (along with various paints I had picked out as well) and painted the army over the next 4 weeks. The only tricky part was getting it home. It couldn’t come on the airplane, so after sealing them, I bought a rifle case, packed them in as good as I could and shipped it UPS back to my house. They actually moved around quite a bit (pistol cases work much better as I would later find out) but they arrived with very few casualties anyway.

This was my first attempt at a custom army. The army list is now in it’s 8^th or 9^th iteration after playing several games. The Vikings are primarily skill 2, with a couple of flavour elements. First, many of the infantry units have a str (0) ram attack. This is to simulate the effect of throwing axes, rocks, knives,etc… as they charge into combat. Then you have some mythical type units like the acolytes of Thor and the valkyries. Finally, some units get the infiltrate ability which helps make up for lack of cav and works with the raider (sneak into the village and steal all the women) lifestyle they used.

Vew a DRAFT VIKING ARMY LIST HERE (you should open this link in a new tab/window)
Download viking_list_v5.htm

The army as it currently stands measures out to the following strength.

75 Berserkers

25 Archers

50 Bondi with hand weapon

75 Warriors with hand weapon

50 Huscarl

50 Skirmishers

69 Warriors with Spear

25 Acolytes of Thor

12 Valkyrie

12 Bears

16 Wolves

16 Winter Wolves

That gives me about 10000 points in core troops. This is not counting any characters or monsters.

Almost all the models are from Old Glory 15s. They are from various ranges though, not just the Viking range.

Infantry

Berserkers: This is what I think of when I think of Vikings. Wave after wave of frenzied berserkers. That’s why I have 75 of them. There probably not the best choice in an army that is already limited in mobility due to the lack of cav, but they are fun when they hit. I field them in units of 15-29.

The models are all Old Glory 15s. There are some from the Viking range, some from the Gaul range and one other range I can’t remember.

Bondi with hand Weapon: The lower class warrior. What that meant was less armor and whatever weapon they could scrounge up. These are typical skill 2 grunts. Use them in the 25 man block or larger formations with a leader.

These are mix of Vikings and other dark age ranges from Old Glory 15s.

Warriors with hand weapon: Now you’re moving up the food chain. These guys get better armor and a better weapon. These are the core troops to build a battle line around. Use in 25 or 29 man blocks including a leader or two.

These are mix of Vikings and other dark age ranges from Old Glory 15s.

Warriors with Spear: The core warriors get long weapons. This unit can deal a little more damage with the second rank of attacks. Use to bolster the key parts of your batteline. Recommend a 7x3 or 8x3 formation.

These are mix of Vikings and other dark age ranges from Old Glory 15s.

Skirmishers: Used to harass the enemy and keep routed units running. Smaller units (12-16 man) should work if you can keep them from getting pounced on.

These are Armenians from old Glory 15s.

Huscarl: The ultimate Viking warriors who have advanced up the ranks by the proficiency in battle. The only skill 3 infantry unit in the army. Another solid infantry unit to hold the enemy and cause tests through mass.

These are Byzantine guardsmen from Old Glory 15s.

Missile Troops

Archers: The Vikings are not known for having mighty archers, but they did have some missile troops. Main use will be to wittle down key units or harass flyers.

These are Viking archers from Old Glory 15s.

Followers of Thor: Sort of a poor man’s high elf acolytes. Use against low magic opponents or missile immune opponents, but keep them out of combat and missile range or their lack of armor will be problematic.

These are from one of the ancients lines of Old Glory 15s.

Support

Valkyrie: A great flying unit. These gals pack a punch. Their evasion and fixed armor will also increase staying power.

These are from Chariot Miniatures. I had to make the bases and flight sticks from a washer and some metal rods.

Bears: A mobile but vulnerable cavalry force.

These are from Chariot Miniatures.

Wolves: A mobile but even more vulnerable cavalry force.

These are from Reaper Miniatures (old familiar pack, I think).

Winter Wolves: A mobile but even more vulnerable cavalry force.

These are from Reaper Miniatures (old familiar pack, I think).

Command

These are from the Old Glory 15s viking command pack and the BRF heroes and wizards packs.

Some Complimenting Monsters: Here are some typical monsters that get fielded as Viking Allies. The Vikings need some monsters to help with their lack of cavalry.

Dragons

Drakes

Air Elemental

Water Elemental

Wyverns

Roc

Minotaurs

Kobolds

Spiders

Lions

Ettin

Giant Ice Trolls

Manticores

Trolls

Official first post

2007-01-05T18:22:00.001-08:00

This post is the official first test post. Like most official firsts, it has no substance.