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Made in us
Wing Commander





TCS Midway

 Da Boss wrote:
Hey, this blog! Just spotted it again. Great to see you're keeping on with it. I'm starting my own Norman force and intend basing it on the Normans in my own home area of Wexford in Ireland.

You mentioned scale differences between the WGF germans and Vikings. I have the vikings and am planning on picking up the Germans at some stage, what are the differences in scale?


Thanks very much and that sounds great.

So, the WGF Ancient Germans are ever so slightly smaller and not built as in scale in and of themselves. I bought them to build berserkers using Anglo Saxon and Viking Huscarl parts to work up the bare chested bodies. The heads are just a little too big. I've managed to hide this somewhat by putting bear fur capes on my 4 berserkers, but it's noticeable if you don't do anything. Overall the Viking bodies are just a bit taller and beefier than the German models. The other problem is that a lot of the German arms are not in scale with each other. Some are obviously smaller and shorter than other arms in the same set (so the right will be tiny and the left will be long and bulging). This becomes a problem trying to get full utilization out of the pieces. It's also hard when you try and convert bodies (I'm using a lot of the rest of the Ancient Germans to build up a Levy Archer group, and I need to use arms from both groups to make it work the way I want. Difficult with some of the gimpier arms). It isn't so noticeable until you assemble the models, and then you start to scratch your head with some of the pieces.

I tried to get some photos, but I must have thrown away a lot of the tiny arms, although you can see an arm difference if you look closely at one of my berserkers (I'll try and get some photos up). So, you can do it, but be prepared to have to fudge some things a bit and do some putty work, they don't fit together quite right otherwise.

 Ruglud wrote:
Hey, great little blog - my mate and I used to run Norman v Viking battles (using Warhammer Ancient Battles rules) and I'm always pleased to see historic modelling blogs here

As for 1:1 scale scenery, you're on to a winner. I too have a 1:1 castle in the garden...
Spoiler:




Thank you very much, I appreciate the encouragement. That's a great octagonal keep you have there.

This message was edited 1 time. Last update was at 2013/11/02 02:10:53


On time, on target, or the next one's free

Gesta Normannorum - A historical minis blog
https://www.dakkadakka.com/dakkaforum/posts/list/474587.page

 
   
Made in gb
Rampaging Reaver Titan Princeps





Earlobe deep in doo doo

Cool Castles and thanks for the info I'd wondered. Wargames Factory internal scale can be quite hit and miss. Their Skeletons are some of the worst plastic models I've purchased although their Chariots and Zulus are awesome.

"But me no buts! Our comrades get hurt. Our friends die. Falkenburg is a knight who swore an oath to serve the church and to defend the weak. He'd be the first to tell you to stop puling and start planning. Because what we are doing-at risk to ourselves-is what we have sworn to do. The West relies on us. It is a risk we take with pride. It is an oath we honour. Even when some soft southern burgher mutters about us, we know the reason he sleeps soft and comfortable, why his wife is able to complain about the price of cabbages as her most serious problem and why his children dare to throw dung and yell "Knot" when we pass. It's because we are what we are. For all our faults we stand for law and light.
Von Gherens This Rough Magic Lackey, Flint & Freer
Mekagorkalicious -Monkeytroll
2017 Model Count-71
 
   
Made in us
Wing Commander





TCS Midway

 Llamahead wrote:
Cool Castles and thanks for the info I'd wondered. Wargames Factory internal scale can be quite hit and miss. Their Skeletons are some of the worst plastic models I've purchased although their Chariots and Zulus are awesome.


The Vikings and Saxons are both pretty good kits, and interchange very well.

Here is something to help illustrate:



The guy on the left is a WGF German and the guy on the right is a WGF Saxon/Viking. They both have Viking weapons. At first glance it looks okay right? Take a look again, they're in basically the same pose, and so should be about the same height. Yet the German is shorter by a base height and everything else is in proportion. I was able to hide the fact the head was too big a little with some putty, but without doing it the head looked huge.

This message was edited 1 time. Last update was at 2013/11/02 14:36:02


On time, on target, or the next one's free

Gesta Normannorum - A historical minis blog
https://www.dakkadakka.com/dakkaforum/posts/list/474587.page

 
   
Made in gb
Rampaging Reaver Titan Princeps





Earlobe deep in doo doo

Yep basically the original Wargames Factory sets were true 28mm but gradually they began to move to a more heroic 28mm. This actually was fine for my IG Zulu regiment when fighting them Marines actually look like they're 8ft tall super men.

"But me no buts! Our comrades get hurt. Our friends die. Falkenburg is a knight who swore an oath to serve the church and to defend the weak. He'd be the first to tell you to stop puling and start planning. Because what we are doing-at risk to ourselves-is what we have sworn to do. The West relies on us. It is a risk we take with pride. It is an oath we honour. Even when some soft southern burgher mutters about us, we know the reason he sleeps soft and comfortable, why his wife is able to complain about the price of cabbages as her most serious problem and why his children dare to throw dung and yell "Knot" when we pass. It's because we are what we are. For all our faults we stand for law and light.
Von Gherens This Rough Magic Lackey, Flint & Freer
Mekagorkalicious -Monkeytroll
2017 Model Count-71
 
   
Made in us
Wing Commander





TCS Midway

Here are some Norman minis from a slightly different material. I'm carving/painting these for my kids for Christmas, and have carved them myself. I'm trying to achieve a worn/old wood toy look with them, and I'm happy with how they are turning out so far. I do also have a square tower done, and will be adding another wall and tower to the set. The red knight is for my daughter and the blue knight is for my son. I wanted them nice and simple in shape so that they would stand up to play, hence why you don't see arms sticking out and so forth.





The knights are carved from Bass wood, the wall from Redwood (used in the flooring of their 'castle/fort') and the gate is from Pine (the walls of their 'castle/fort'). I used scrap from the fort first because I had it, and second because I thought it would be more fun to have their fort 'inside' for play.

This message was edited 1 time. Last update was at 2013/11/10 02:00:21


On time, on target, or the next one's free

Gesta Normannorum - A historical minis blog
https://www.dakkadakka.com/dakkaforum/posts/list/474587.page

 
   
Made in us
Wing Commander





TCS Midway

Some custom dice for my Normans. I'm not sure how well they'll work, but I'm not spending that much money on 8 dice...sheesh. I tried to give them an old/used feel.


On time, on target, or the next one's free

Gesta Normannorum - A historical minis blog
https://www.dakkadakka.com/dakkaforum/posts/list/474587.page

 
   
Made in us
Wing Commander





TCS Midway

I've been pretty good about assembling a ton of Vikings/Geats/Normans, but don't have anything to show yet (black primed models coming out my ears now) on that front. On a slightly different note I received several books from my Amazon wish list on the Roman army for Christmas. I've always wanted to paint some Romans (mainly I've wanted to build a chess set with them, as an example). I thought about picking up some 28mm Romans, but realized it would just bog everything down as they'd take as long to clean, prepare, customize, etc so I choose something a little outside my norm. For the first time ever I've picked up some 15mm models. Corvus Belli's line of Early Imperial Romans was just what I was looking for. I wanted to build the II Legio Augusta as they were based about an hour west of where we were living in the UK (Caerleon), and these were perfect.

I have modified them a little to include a cloak for the colder climes of England (I have ~16-19 foot troops that need cloaks, and about 16 already with cloaks) and wanted to base them as if there had been a recent 'dusting' of snow. I couldn't find a definitive II Augusta shield scheme, but saw this one repeated quite often. It was much simpler than many designs, and looked different so I decided I would run with it. Pretty happy with how these first 4 have turned out, the models themselves are easily as well made as the best 28mm out there. Loads of details (individual toes, fingers, facial details, belts, etc) in them. I have 4 more at least 50% done, and a scratch built Roman Scorpion mostly done (although not with CB minis, and you can really tell the difference as the two crew are very simplistic in comparison).





The colors aren't the best, as I took them this morning. When I finish off the other 4 and the Scorpion I will try and get some better lighted photos.

On time, on target, or the next one's free

Gesta Normannorum - A historical minis blog
https://www.dakkadakka.com/dakkaforum/posts/list/474587.page

 
   
Made in us
Wing Commander





TCS Midway

I have recently been semi diverted into some Samurai/Sengoku Jidai related items. I have built and painted a mini from Kensei, which is a gorgeous mini but their prices are ridiculously high for what you get. After finishing him I decided to build some terrain, and have a few more related minis on the way. I'd like to pick up a copy of Osprey's Ronin skirmish rules, but we'll see. In the mean time I've built a walled house for a samurai, which will include a small pond with a cherry tree in the middle. The pond isn't completely done yet as I have to build up the tree (it will have rocks running around the inside as well, with a little grass island the tree sits on). Anyone have any good ideas for putting koi in the pond? Maybe paint some small slips of paper to look like koi, glue them down, and then pour the 'water' over top?

I also plan to put a small bench beside the pond, and maybe an ornamental light (although I'm still not sure about that).

Anyways, some work in progress shots:











The gold paper was a chance find at Michael's, in their scrap booking department. I had gone in looking for the corrugated paper used for the tiles, and found it. It will make some excellent cobble stones when painted, for a paved courtyard.


Automatically Appended Next Post:
Some rough pics of the Samurai that inspired my building craze. I wonder if you could play saga by dividing the unit sizes by 4. Since 1 Hearth Guard = 2 Warriors = 3 Levy, play a 4 or 6 point game where each point bought you 1 HG, 2 Warriors, or 3 Levy.... instead of the 4, 8, 12 as normal. Effectively letting you play with much smaller armies. Some abilities wouldn't work right I suppose (such as the sacrifice a model to do x)....









The bulk of the model is not actually glossy, I've just covered over the black armor with a lick of gloss paint to imply lacquered armor. The cherry on his base is similar to what will go in the house's garden. I've chosen the Otomo clan for the mon to be a bit different.

This message was edited 1 time. Last update was at 2014/02/17 19:44:30


On time, on target, or the next one's free

Gesta Normannorum - A historical minis blog
https://www.dakkadakka.com/dakkaforum/posts/list/474587.page

 
   
Made in gb
Mauleed





Liking the samurai, blossom tree base is superb and the house is fantastic. I'm not sold on the positioning of the arms, but it's still a nice model. As far as ideas for koi, maybe doubling the height of the pond wall would allow you to place some basic fish shapes painted orange within a water effect. Placing some Lilly pads on top of the surface of the effects would obscure the view of the koi, enough so that the shapes wouldn't have to be so accurate? Hope that gives you some ideas
   
Made in gb
Fixture of Dakka





6 foot underwater

Great work on that house, that's going to be a real beauty when done

The corrugated tiles look fantastic, and the cobblestone paper is a nice find.

Think you have the right idea for the koi, maybe slightly fold the paper lengthways to create a more 3D effect, and possibly have a paper fin breaking the surface on one?

Look forward to further work on this, and seeing some more samurai when they come in.

cyborks & flyboyz : http://www.dakkadakka.com/dakkaforum/posts/list/300067.page
heretical ramblings : http://www.dakkadakka.com/dakkaforum/posts/list/302773.page
imperial preachings : http://www.dakkadakka.com/dakkaforum/posts/list/0/303365.page
Da Waaagh-ky Races : http://www.dakkadakka.com/dakkaforum/posts/list/325045.page
Briancj: You have the Mek Taint, MT, and the only thing we can do is watch in horror/amazement.

 
   
Made in us
Wing Commander





TCS Midway

Thanks for the nice comments and ideas. What about painting the koi onto the board. Then laying some heavier and lighter washes of the pond color over some of them to give them the illusion of depth in the water? I could even mix that with the fin breaking the water idea.

On time, on target, or the next one's free

Gesta Normannorum - A historical minis blog
https://www.dakkadakka.com/dakkaforum/posts/list/474587.page

 
   
Made in gb
Fixture of Dakka





6 foot underwater

Yeah, that could work, depends how confident you are on painting koi I guess

cyborks & flyboyz : http://www.dakkadakka.com/dakkaforum/posts/list/300067.page
heretical ramblings : http://www.dakkadakka.com/dakkaforum/posts/list/302773.page
imperial preachings : http://www.dakkadakka.com/dakkaforum/posts/list/0/303365.page
Da Waaagh-ky Races : http://www.dakkadakka.com/dakkaforum/posts/list/325045.page
Briancj: You have the Mek Taint, MT, and the only thing we can do is watch in horror/amazement.

 
   
Made in us
Wing Commander





TCS Midway

I think I will try something like that. As a concept I mocked it up quickly in paint to see how it would work:



It's worth a shot anyways.


This message was edited 1 time. Last update was at 2014/02/19 16:40:06


On time, on target, or the next one's free

Gesta Normannorum - A historical minis blog
https://www.dakkadakka.com/dakkaforum/posts/list/474587.page

 
   
Made in us
Wing Commander





TCS Midway

Some more WIP terrain.

First up is a village house with a thatch roof. This is a first for me as I've never experimented with faux fur in such a fashion before. I need to finish the windows on the side, and then it's painting time (you can see a small part where I tested painting it already).





Then a shrine wip. I've built the armatures for two of the four cherry trees which will flank the cobbled path.





I want to try and putty up the bases the tori gate is based on to look like stone.

I eventually want to build two more houses and a store, possibly a tea house/public house of some sort as well. It will give me some experience before I flesh out my Norman terrain (I have a castle keep planned out, and am most of the way through a Sarissa church, although I seem to have lost my Norman manor house when we moved this past summer, which is a shame as it was a lovely kit from Sarissa as well).

This message was edited 2 times. Last update was at 2014/02/27 20:17:58


On time, on target, or the next one's free

Gesta Normannorum - A historical minis blog
https://www.dakkadakka.com/dakkaforum/posts/list/474587.page

 
   
Made in be
Arch Magos w/ 4 Meg of RAM






In the Wasteland

I really like your work, great job.

The houses look very cool as well, I love the detail in them.



 
   
Made in us
Wing Commander





TCS Midway

Some mostly finished shots of my farmhouse. I am currently undecided as to if I want to grime up the lower plaster any more than I have or not.







I still need to flock the edges, but otherwise it is effectively done.

On time, on target, or the next one's free

Gesta Normannorum - A historical minis blog
https://www.dakkadakka.com/dakkaforum/posts/list/474587.page

 
   
Made in us
Wing Commander





TCS Midway

Some work in progress shots on the exterior walls. I still need to paint the wood trim, but I wanted to see if anyone had any opinions on the weathering; should I weather the wall or not?




On time, on target, or the next one's free

Gesta Normannorum - A historical minis blog
https://www.dakkadakka.com/dakkaforum/posts/list/474587.page

 
   
Made in gb
Fixture of Dakka





6 foot underwater

Coming along nicely. I'd say minimal weathering, just enough so that it doesn't look brand new. The amount of grime you put on the farmhouse was just right. I'm normally all for heavy weathering, but feel that these should be in good condition, although not pristine.

cyborks & flyboyz : http://www.dakkadakka.com/dakkaforum/posts/list/300067.page
heretical ramblings : http://www.dakkadakka.com/dakkaforum/posts/list/302773.page
imperial preachings : http://www.dakkadakka.com/dakkaforum/posts/list/0/303365.page
Da Waaagh-ky Races : http://www.dakkadakka.com/dakkaforum/posts/list/325045.page
Briancj: You have the Mek Taint, MT, and the only thing we can do is watch in horror/amazement.

 
   
Made in us
Wing Commander





TCS Midway

Some updates on my progress. I've started building an objective marker, and have mostly finished up the koi pond and a village fountain/trough (meant to be omniversal, I had originally started constructing it for my Normans, but wanted to keep it simple so it could be used with lots of terrain).

First up my objective marker with the Otomo clan mon, which I am using for my buntai:



Made with some linen cloth and some tubing.

Here is my fountain/water trough/well, made with some putty, plastruct tubing, and an old mint tin.



Finally the koi pond, tree, and bench. I have some grey touch up to do, and unfortunately I used a little to much ink to dye the water, so the koi are rather difficult to see. However, it still captures the garden feel nicely, so I'm happy enough with it.






This message was edited 1 time. Last update was at 2014/04/03 01:12:12


On time, on target, or the next one's free

Gesta Normannorum - A historical minis blog
https://www.dakkadakka.com/dakkaforum/posts/list/474587.page

 
   
Made in gb
Fixture of Dakka





6 foot underwater

Pond looks great, good job there!

And the trough will indeed work well in a variety of locations.

cyborks & flyboyz : http://www.dakkadakka.com/dakkaforum/posts/list/300067.page
heretical ramblings : http://www.dakkadakka.com/dakkaforum/posts/list/302773.page
imperial preachings : http://www.dakkadakka.com/dakkaforum/posts/list/0/303365.page
Da Waaagh-ky Races : http://www.dakkadakka.com/dakkaforum/posts/list/325045.page
Briancj: You have the Mek Taint, MT, and the only thing we can do is watch in horror/amazement.

 
   
Made in us
Wing Commander





TCS Midway

Whew, that took forever. Some Norman crossbows. That means I've hit 4 pts for Saga completed. Now just 11 other bowmen and I'll hit 5. I have 6 more Flemmings/Warriors done, so I can either finish two more for 6 points (2 Hearthguard, 2 Warriors on Foot, 1 Warrior with xbows, and 1 bow armed levy) or I finish off 4 more milites ( which I will do anyways at some point). Unfortunately the full sunshine dilutes the color shading on these, but oh well.





I've also got a modified William the Bastard in there, now wielding a mace, as I think the club is stupid. He's just a normal milite for my purposes (although he could be a warlord if I wanted). The shield is the Coleman family crest (minus the four mini crosses).

On time, on target, or the next one's free

Gesta Normannorum - A historical minis blog
https://www.dakkadakka.com/dakkaforum/posts/list/474587.page

 
   
Made in us
Wing Commander





TCS Midway

Large update. I've finished off my Crossbowmen, two more archers, a milite, and made some real headway on my 4'x4' terrain board.

First up wip shots of my board. Still lots of small details to do, but I started pouring the river today so hooray!











Crossbowmen:







Robin, Friar Tuck, Will Scarlet:




On time, on target, or the next one's free

Gesta Normannorum - A historical minis blog
https://www.dakkadakka.com/dakkaforum/posts/list/474587.page

 
   
Made in us
Wing Commander





TCS Midway

Because Saga dice are ludicrously expensive and I needed 4 sets:



First two sets are done along with half of the Norman dice. 7.5 dice to go (4.5 Anglo Danish, and 3 Norman). Blarg, talk sbout getting hand cramps.

On time, on target, or the next one's free

Gesta Normannorum - A historical minis blog
https://www.dakkadakka.com/dakkaforum/posts/list/474587.page

 
   
Made in us
Wing Commander





TCS Midway

My shrine is almost done. I need to put some more flock on the cherry trees and finish the grass, but well on the way:




On time, on target, or the next one's free

Gesta Normannorum - A historical minis blog
https://www.dakkadakka.com/dakkaforum/posts/list/474587.page

 
   
Made in gb
Fixture of Dakka






Wiltshire, UK

That's looking very nice, the trees look amazing, so colourful.

   
Made in gb
Incorporating Wet-Blending





Wales: Where the Men are Men and the sheep are Scared.

This thread is fantstic mate. Not only is it great to see more historicals on Dakka but your terrain is fantastic.



 
   
Made in us
Wing Commander





TCS Midway

 carlos13th wrote:
This thread is fantstic mate. Not only is it great to see more historicals on Dakka but your terrain is fantastic.


Thanks very much, I appreciate that.

So currently I am playing with an excellent group in Utah, the Wasatch Front Historical Gamers. They've been quite gracious in letting me join in their sessions. About 2 weeks ago I had them over to play Saga and you can see pictures of my Vikings, Normans, Anglo-Danish (using my Norman spearmen as theirs are still in progress), and Templars. This was done on my river board, which still has a little polishing to finish out, but is certainly close.

http://www.wfhgs.com/friday051115.html

If you have a minute, I also strongly recommend perusing Warning Order. It's the club's ezine which chronicles a number of the games they play and gives batreps of the bi-weekly wargame. I've been fortunate to play a slew of different systems and periods with them. Currently I am working on some 10mm Teutonic Knights to play Warmaster with them (the club already had Normans, Vikings, Crusaders, Samurai, EIR, Late Roman/Arthurian which were all my initial choices).

This message was edited 2 times. Last update was at 2015/05/28 03:21:10


On time, on target, or the next one's free

Gesta Normannorum - A historical minis blog
https://www.dakkadakka.com/dakkaforum/posts/list/474587.page

 
   
Made in us
Wing Commander





TCS Midway

Saga went over pretty well with my group, and we discussed using the rules to play different eras. In the end, we've gone with Ancient Greek/Rome/Persian/Carthage/et al. Loads of potential for boards, terrain, etc.

I suppose it might be more appropriate to call it 'Epic' now?

At any rate, I've built a large Temple of Ares. I think I will inscribe the pedistal with the greek form of 'The die is cast'. The roof lifts off so that you can play inside, and the columns are spaced to allow troops to move between them and the building. Cake toppers make up the columns, and the stone is made from thin foam that was pressed to make the dressed stones.







Fun project that I was able to involve my 5 year old in.

On time, on target, or the next one's free

Gesta Normannorum - A historical minis blog
https://www.dakkadakka.com/dakkaforum/posts/list/474587.page

 
   
Made in gb
Fixture of Dakka






Wiltshire, UK

Thats very impressive, great piece of scenery.

   
Made in us
Wing Commander





TCS Midway

Thanks. As a note on scale, 'Ares' is a 40mm miniature from a now OOP company.

On time, on target, or the next one's free

Gesta Normannorum - A historical minis blog
https://www.dakkadakka.com/dakkaforum/posts/list/474587.page

 
   
 
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