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| Sculpt by Werner Klocke |
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In a direct response to
this post, and a wander down to one of the other gaming stores in town who have a large selection of Reaper miniatures, I selected myself some completely historically inaccurate vikings. The first was
this little lady, who could depict
Freydis Eiriksdottir. The second was
this standard bearer, with whom I will complete a little vignette to act as the chief of a viking horde. Yes, they are rather fantastical representations of Vikings, but to my mind Saga, or at least the sagas on which the game is based, are not entirely historical accurate renditions. They tell a story, and as such, I feel there is some leeway in how I chose to represent my band.
A search online suggests that there are no hard and fast rules for basing Saga minis, but that leaders seem to be on 40mm round bases as a general rule. I was kind of hoping it would be 50mm bases as a, I have some of those, and b, they alow for more space to arrange the figures, but 40mm it shall be.
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| Not a round shield. |
I think the first and major changes to both minis will have to be the shields. Ingrid's shield is a nice shape, but from all I can see, the Viking shields were round. I'm not entirely sure how easy that will be to change, as the left arm is firmly fixed to the current shield. Unless I find some shields that come attached to arms, it may have to stay.
On the Standard bearer, I feel the small knife he's holding in his left hand is really out of place. It kind of unbalances the mini, and really, why would you bother with a knife, if you're the standard bearer, you're looking to be holding a shield to get a bit more cover, to at least keep that flag flying, or maybe to cover the chief. I kind of like the idea that he's resting the shield on the ground, but that will mean finding a large shield.
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| I like the dragon head. |
Also, I'm not sure I can keep the horns. The wings, I'm kind of okay with, as he's the standard bearer, he's flashy and stands out, but the horns are so cliched. I know by fielding these minis I am already quite far off the historically accurate track, but even so, I think the horned helm may have to go. A shame really.
As to the diorama, I plan it to be really simple, just a placing of the two minis on the appropriate base once these simple changes are made.
Off to source some local viking shields, or at least plasticard to make my own.
Nice figures, I like the dragon head as well, that would look great on the front of a longship.
ReplyDeleteMaybe that's where he nicked it from! ;)
DeleteGreat looking minis, they will paint up well.
ReplyDeleteI think so, but a bit of sourcing of components to go before that unfortunately.
DeleteIf you have trouble finding a shield let me know, I have gripping beasts plastic vikings, and some round metal Norman shields, I even have some plastic hoplite shields, they have the curve you are after, maybe with the right paint scheme, they will look viking, so I will probably be able to find something appropriate.
ReplyDeleteThat's a terribly kind offer thank you very much, but I think I have found some in the bits box at my FLGS, a mixture of round orc shields and LoTR Rohan inserts. I think it should work out okay.
DeleteHi Derek,
ReplyDeleteSorry for the delay in posting but I have been away. Great figure, and very nicely painted. I do not think it is that flamboyant and would do well as Freydis Eriksdottir.
As you know I have based my SAGA warlord on 60mm bases, I am not too concerned as you can always take measurements from the figure rather then the base edge.
Looking forward to seeing more,
John
TBH the painted version in this pic is the pic from Reaper's site, painted by Jennifer Haley, so, a little bit better painted that my usual job! ;)
DeleteI could easily place this on an empty 60mm base for other gaming purposes, so the 40mm base should not be a hinderance. I can't see the base size being a huge problem as far as gaming goes.
I've started the base coats on these two, so should have some more pics to show soon.