Finally painted the first of my Bretons for Saga. Im using Conquest Games plastic Norman Knights, with a hand transplant and a metal javelin. Fairly pleased so far- its been a nice cheap way of doing a Saga force. 6 pts for under £40.
(http://i.imgur.com/caok2cel.jpg) (http://imgur.com/caok2ce)
Still unsure if I want to keep the black shield designs (apparently according to an ancient Frankish chronicle, Bretons used black shields) and I might end up using some Little Big Man Studios decals on them at some point. Might hold my nerve and see how they all look in black first though.
Heres my Breton warlord sort of completed. Couple of bits I need to touch up and realised I hadnt painted the horses eyes!
I was going to keep the shield black like the rest of my force but it looked pretty crappy with such a large kite shield and a black horse. So I decided to have a go at a sort of freehand Celtic knot design and I think it came out reasonably well considering its the first time Ive ever done a free hand shield design.
(http://i.imgur.com/tc8f2Hql.jpg) (http://imgur.com/tc8f2Hq)
(http://i.imgur.com/NjLnglfl.jpg) (http://imgur.com/NjLnglf)
Really nice work! :D
Very nice indeed !! :-bd
Cheers - Phil.
Seriously amazing shield!
For the cavalry I would just put a light fine soil dry brush around the lower edge of the shield for added 'depth' otherwise I have to say they work beautifully! 8)
Thats a good idea Mad Lemmy.
Loving these.
Saga's a great game too!
Yeah it really is Nosher. We havent had a duff game of it yet. Im looking forward to using these Bretons as they look super annoying with all that riding about throwing javelins and then scarpering. :d
Very nice!!!
Excellent work,
kev
Quote from: Serotonin on 13 April 2013, 06:56:42 PM
Yeah it really is Nosher. We havent had a duff game of it yet. Im looking forward to using these Bretons as they look super annoying with all that riding about throwing javelins and then scarpering. :d
When used well they are known as the 'untouchables' in certain hands!
Great work Chris.
MMmm.
Nice.
Is the Warlord a metal figure, and if so from whom?
I too am in the midst of putting together a Breton warband from the conquest figures, I have used a few heads from WGF and their javelins to make the troops more Breton and less Norman. I've got a set of the LBM decals waiting ready and waiting - I'll let you know how well they fit the Conquest shields. From a quick eyeball they seem about right.
Bretons seem to be suddenly popular! Have you seen these ones over on TMP http://theminiaturespage.com/boards/msg.mv?id=302497 they have some good posing of the figures.
Its the Gripping Beast Breton warlord.
Its quite a nice figure, but I was disappointed the kite shield was cast on, as Ive deliberately given my force round shields so they look different from the Normans.
Those ones on TMP do look nice. Im going to use the unarmoured bodies (and the quilted leather armoured ones) from the Conquest sprue for my Warriors. Im running with 5 hearthguards and 1 warrior unit. That way 2 boxes will do the trick.
I might look at putting some different heads on the Warriors, but not quite sure how to pull that off.
I've found that the various plastic kits mix and match quite well.
I used Wargames Factory Saxon heads, Gripping Beast Saxons, and even a GW Bretonnian head.
WGF ones come with a very long neck, this can be filed down a little, and given an angle to match the Conquest body (which has quite a slope for the head), then just stuck in place - a little liquid green stuff will hide any gaps. This works well to give some bareheaded figures - which makes the armoured troops look much less 'heavy'.
The GB heads, have no neck at all, as the GB bodies have the neck! For these I used a bit of brass rod to space the head appropriately - then added some liquid green stuff to build up a neck - as the GB heads have long hair, or wide helmets again this can be quite crude, but look OK when painted. I used these heads (along with GB weapons) to make some mounted Hearthguard for the Anglo Saxons.
The Bret head needed quite a bit of filing to trim down the rather broad neck and shoulders that come cast on - but as its plastic this is quick. Then was able to be glued directly on.
Good Job :-bd
Nicely done, Chris 8)