Norse 3 - Einar Ragnarsson

Here we have the warlord for my nascent Viking band. I had considered going with a big guy with a wolf skin cloak, big imposing helmet and all the trimmings, but I had this guy, and it amused me to have him lead the force. It'll make for entertainment on the gaming table.

This fella is Einar Ragnarsson from the film The Vikings, from 1958. (You can find it on many of the streaming services.) He's quite the rapscallion, is our Einar, played by Kirk Douglas, as if that chin hadn't already announced itself. Just the guy to lead an opportunistic raiding force of Northmen. 

It's not the finest sculpt I've ever painted, the pose is a little stiff, but nor is it a bad sculpt at all. The sculptor NAILED the likeness. I followed the film pretty closely for a colour scheme, and I might use the palette for the sheepskin leg wraps on a few other members of the warband. I spent most of the time on the face and luxurious hair, to be honest. I also wanted to get that blind eye just right.

Saga requires a larger base for the Warlord, usually 40mm, which I felt would have been too big. So I popped him on a 25mm and made a 40mm base extender, so I can use Einar in other games, like Pillage. I had a poor mistreated old dog mini in my bits box, and thought it would be perfect for a bit of visual interest on the base extender. Enter Jǫtunn, Einar's faithful hound. The dog was originally a Lord of the Rings mini, I discovered, one of farmer Maggot's two mutts. How he got in that bits box, only Odin knows.

I've got plans for a few more units to get me to five points. A unit of berserkers next, then two unit of warriors and a unit of levy. After that, I have some sweet Viking casualties to serve as fatigue markers, some dark age terrain, and most terrifyingly, a longship that I've had stashed in the pile for years.

Next up, Ulfhednar!

Norse 2 - Hearthguard

Today we have some more Northmen. Some buddies and I are planning on a Saga weekend in a few weeks, and I eagerly dug out my venerable Citadel and Foundry Norse. I've had half an eye on doing some Vikings for years, and if not now, when?

The Perry(?) Citadel Norse are really lovely sculpts. I have a nice stash of them, and I must say, they are really nice to paint up. I'm having THE FUNS. Dipping a toe into historical has sent me down a bit of a rabbit hole. All of a sudden I'm poring over Osprey books and looking up historical reference. Finding the LittleBigMan Studios shield transfers was a delight. They are so good. Look at them!

Now, one thing I did not love was the bosses on the minis for the Citadel boss-less shields. It's a bit of a pain in the hoop. So, I filed them flat, drilled a hole for a wee pin and used Foundry shields, which happily the transfers fit perfectly, and are a lot less hassle to attach.

Painting-wise, it's a lot of natural materials mixed with a few more vibrant colours. The Vikings were a fairly colourful lot, it turns out. I mixed up a nice new recess wash for metals by mixing GW Nuln Oil, Vallejo Umber Wash and a touch of black. It's nice for definition. 

Hair was the other thing. I wanted a nice blonde, red and a few good browns. I think they worked pretty well, though I fancy a nice black hair colour too. You gotta have good beard-fu when painting Vikings.

Gunnar Hrafnsson here is one of the few Citadel exampled with a full helm. I do wish they had done a couple more. Still, he's a nice sculpt. I hadn't originally planned on the gold on the helm, but it needed something to draw the eye amongst all that silver.

Úlfr Raudskeger is another really sweet chonky sculpt. Those pants alone demand respect. I made him a redhead, and I think it's realistic enough without being too vibrant. I've started kind of 'polishing' on the top highlight on the metals, like a hard drybrush with almost no paint, and it gives a really realistic sheen.

Björn Inn Sterki, the last hearthguard, is a (gasp) duplicate! I had two, and I like this sculpt so much I just added him in. If I do another unit of hearthguard I'll just swap him in there. I went brighter with his tunic as I want to add maybe three more vibrant colours to the warband palettte. I have this, a blue, and I might do a red as well.

So, that's the first unit of Hearthguard. Next up, the warlord. My own Viking heritage goes back the Orkney islands, so I get a buzz out of finally doing a wee Viking warband. Is that you, grandad?

Vertu sæll!