Sunday, August 10, 2014

Lords, Nobles, Champions...and Sheep?


Just a quick update this time. I've had some exciting happenings in real life, as last week I heard that I have managed to get a permanent teaching job at school i've been working at for the past 9 months. Full time teaching jobs are like hen's teeth on the Central Coast region of NSW, particularly history teaching positions, so I’m very, very chuffed!

As far as painting and gaming has been going, I've finished painting up and basing the nobles and lords for my Saxons for Dux Britanniarum. I’ve used the rules to generate a background for them. My Dux Brit campaign will see the Saxons attacking the lands of the British Kingdom of the North. The figures I’ve used are the excellent Musketeer Miniatures. Shields are all the superb LBMS offerings. I used the same basing formula as I have for my SAGA vikings, which I feel works for a Northern Britain feel.



26 year old Ecgwald is the leader of the Saxon warband. Ecgwald may be of average build, but he has the constitution of an ox. The Saxon is wodenborn, the scion of an aristocratic family across the sea in Germany.



Ecgwald’s champion is Offa, a tall and strong 28 year old. Offa is a master at arms, skilled in the use of sword, saex, and spear.


Fighting with Ecgwald is Aedelbehrt the Able, a short and wiry 31 year old. Aedelbehrt is also wodenborn, the son of a chieftain leading foederati along Hadrian’s  wall. Growing up in the foederati fort, the young noble developed an unquenchable appetite for the fairer sex. Aedelbehrt is not entirely happy under the command of the younger Ecgwald, believing himself more suited to leadership.


21 year old Oswine is the last of the nobles fighting with Ecgwald. The young Oswine is the son of a lesser foederati noble serving on Hadrian’s Wall, and he grew up alongside Aedelbehrt. Oswine is in awe of Ecgwald, to whom he is entirely loyal. He also does not approve of Aedelbehrt’s lustful behaviour and self serving attitude.


On a similar vein, I’ve been working on a supplement for Dux Britanniarum centred upon the Norman conquest of Southern Italy in the 11th century. I’m a fan of SAGA, and acquired starter armies of Byzantines and Normans. While SAGA is great fun, it is not really the most historical ruleset about. I started working on an adaptation of Dux Brit to use down at the club, and it snowballed into a bit of a monster. 
The working title for this is Terror Mundi, after the epitaph of Robert Guiscard, and Rich from TooFatLardies is going to be prettying it up and releasing the supplement as a pdf next month.

The supplement will allow the player to take the role of Norman, Byzantine, or Italo-Lombard. I’m painting up a Norman and a Byzantine force at the moment, so have posted the first few nobles. As with Dux Brit, Terror Mundi includes background generation for the nobles, so as with the Saxons, here are the first few Byzantine and Norman leaders with their potted bios. The Byzantines are from Crusader minis, and the Normans are Gripping Beast. I've really enjoyed painting these up, and even did a little bit of modification. The Norman warlord has a greenstuff scarf added to his helmet, and the Byzantine commanders have had sashes added. These were coloured according to rank, although no record exists of the exact colours. With the basing for these, I wanted to emulate the sunburnt Apulian landscape, dry but still green. 

The Byzantine commander is John the Ambitious, a 35 year old man of average build. John is a deeply devout man who loves nothing more than debating an obscure theological concept. He is a bureaucrat, faithfully and dutifully administering his district, collecting taxes and enforcing the will of the Catapan.



32 year old Marinus is one of John’s subordinate commanders. Tall and strong, Marinus is the consumate professional, fulfilling his duties for Christos and Basileus. Marinus is a veteran, having marched with the imperial armies in campaigns against Lombard, Bulgar, Turk and Saracen.


The Norman warlord is Tancred, a 30 year old of average build. Nobody dares ask Tancred where he got the scars on his face, but the men whisper that he was once a brigand. Regardless, his skill in sniffing out hidden wealth is well known, and he is known as ‘bras de fer,’ a man skilled with lance and sword. Tancred's shield is a hand painted design based on the de Hauteville arms.



Tancred’s champion is the 26 year old Ludolf, a tall and strong man with an uncanny skill when fighting in the saddle.



Finally, I recently acquired a load of sheep, rabbits, pigs, boar, and even a stag and a hind from Warbases, where I usually get all of my laser cut mdf bases. I figure i'll use these to spruce up my terrain a bit, and the sheep can also be used in SAGA and Dux Brit raids scenarios. This lot are some rabbits and some Soay sheep. They are lovely little figures and paint up a treat.





So there you have it, a bunch of Saxon, Norman and Byzantine nobles, champions and lords. There will be lots more coming in this vein. I’m working my way through basing 


25 comments:

  1. I have no words! These are one (if not THE) best painted figures that I've seen recently. Oustanding work and very inspiring ... should rescue my romano-british minis from the lead pile (hidden in a deep layer. from 2 years ago, I'm afraid)

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    1. Thanks for the kind words mate, I don't comment on your blog often but always read your posts which are always entertaining and interesting. I for one would love to see your Romano-Brits painted up.

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  2. Absolutely stunning work painting wise. I really lov the tiny patterns on the tunics and the bright colours you used. Congrats on both the job and the forthcoming supplement.

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    1. Thanks Moiterei, glad you like them. I've almost finished basing the duguth, so there'll be more dark ages stuff coming. I tried to add brighter colours for the warlord and his commanders as access to brighter dyes and more ornate fabrics would indicate their higher status.

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  3. Beautiful work! I read John Julius Norwich's book The Normans in the South some years ago and always thought it had potential as a game setting. It's great to see you're moving forward with such a project and I look forward to seeing game reports.

    Congratulations on getting tenure. Rare enough here in the US these days too.

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    1. Thanks for the congratulations AJ. Tenure can be very hard to get over here, apparently the average waiting time for a full time position is 7 years, so I'm very lucky to have snagged full time in just under a year.
      Norwich's book is superb, isn't it. It actually served as the original inspiration for this project. More Normans and Byzantines are on the painting desk at the moment, so I should be posting images soon.

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  4. First off, congrats on the great position - teaching full time history! Something I would've liked to do as a career. Next, those figures are superbly painted - and all with great background stories. Regards, Dean

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    1. Thanks Dean, teaching is a rewarding and fun - if sometimes challenging career. One of the best decisions I've made was to quit my job and go back and retrain as a history teacher.

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  5. Great work the bases are amazing!

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    1. Thanks Dave, I was inspired by an article in a recent Wargames Soldiers and Strategy magazine. Your own work is always an inspiration.

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  6. Ben you've excelled yourself there! Some of the best presented and painted miniatures I've seen from you yet.
    Well done on the new job, I hope it works out well for you and the family.
    All the best,
    John.

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    1. Thanks John, glad you like them. I have also recently got a new camera (Canon G16), which takes some pretty decent photos.

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  7. Sweet job! I am envious and wish I had your painting ability. Congrats on securing full time position.

    Cheers
    Kevin

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    1. Thanks for the kind words Kevin. I came from a scale modelling background, rather than gaming. It means i tend to spend far too long painting figures, and it can take a painfully long time to build up a painted army. Which is why I tend towards large scale skirmish rulesets I suppose :)

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  8. Splendid work!! Congrats, these minis are really fantastic!

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  9. Ben they are wonderful figures and congrats on the job - Central Coast is a beautiful area to live in.

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    1. Thanks mate, glad you like them. You're down in Sydney aren't you. We will have to catch up for a game one of these days.

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  10. Excellent figures. 11th Century Italy! Splendid, now that will be interesting-the other Norman Conquest.

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    1. Cheers Mark. I personally think that the Norman conquest of Italy is far more interesting than William the Conqueror's takeover of Britain. The de Hautevilles are a great rags to riches story as well.

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  11. Nice painting and congrats on the job.
    cheers

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  12. Great stuff Ben I saw these on steve Dean's site? and love them. Glad you've got the job full time. It is a worthy career. Do you guys need a Science teacher?

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  13. Congratulations on your new position and upon these beautifully painted figures. I'm just starting to get into Dux Brit myself.

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  14. Fabulous painting, I love every one. And congrats on the full time position too!

    I can hardly wait to see the supplement on the Normans. I'm working my way through painting a large batch and listening to the audiobook, The Norman Conquest. I've been trying to get a friend into DB by using his Pagan Rus and working up a fictional campaign. You've done all that for the Normans it sounds like! I've been looking for any excuse to paint up Byz for myself and I think I've found it! THANKS!

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