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Made in us
Battlefield Tourist




MN (Currently in WY)

Greetings All,

In 2021, I finished painting up a force of Vikings from Victrix. In a fit of craziness, I batch painted all 60 of them all at once over the course of a month or so. I do NOT recommend this approach at all.



If you are interested, you can see the gory details on my blog here: http://bloodandspectacles.blogspot.com/2021/10/on-painting-desk-lets-go-viking.html

However, for 2022 I wanted to create an opponent for my force. I decided on using the Dark Age Irish from Wargames Atlantic for a a couple of reasons:

1. A strong contrast to my Viking force
2. Try a different provided than Victrix
3. Plastic models and inexpensive for two boxes

Therefore, once 2022 rolled around I made an order and got my boxes delivered quick and tidy.



Overall, the sculpts seemed pretty clean with clear, deep details. However, some of the joins on the sprue left some scrapping in hard to reach areas. They assembled easily and without need of instructions, but I felt like I did more scrapping off join waste than my Victrix efforts. However, no serious issues in the making. I used 1 inch round washers as my bases because those give the plastic models a bit of heft and stability. Wargames Atlantic models come with a "puddle" base but no basing beyond that.

Overall, there are three distinct features that make up a Dark Age Irish army:


1. Bare footed and little to no armor
2. The distinctive Shillelagh walking stick club
3. Irish Wolfhounds

The Irish Wolfhound going into battle besides the Irish forces is a staple of wargaming. However, I am not sure how strong a grasp this common Irish army feature has in reality. I decided to lean into it with my skirmishers being half regular troops and half Wolfhounds. As skirmishers it seemed to make the most sense in the army. I also did not get enough slings for what I had planned, so half the two slinger units are just throwing rocks. This makes the army look considerably less professional than their Viking foes, which I have no issue with.

When all 60 troops were assembled, I had 2 units of warriors, 2 units of slingers, and 2 units of skirmishers (with Wolfhounds blocking out their numbers, even though I had enough miniatures of men if I wanted). I normally add the shields after I have them painted, as a final step.



Next steps are to undercoat them by brush white, and then block in the flesh tones. I will be updating my progress here as I go, so let's buckle in and go on a little Dark Age Irish journey.

Support Blood and Spectacles Publishing:
https://www.patreon.com/Bloodandspectaclespublishing 
   
Made in nz
Primus





Palmerston North

Awesome, I am looking forward to how this unfolds.

The first thing I look for in Irish troops is for bare feet. So I was happy with the look of the WA set for this reason and disappointed in the GB set.

I intend to buy both when I get around to building an Irish warband myself.

Shoes in a damp environment can be dangerous for foot health.
   
Made in us
Dakka Veteran






Love them! I've loved the Dark Ages ever since playing Rome: Total War: Barbarian Invasion (whew, that's a lot of colons).

The thing about 40k is that no one person can grasp the fullness of it.

My 95th Praetorian Rifles.

SW Successors

Dwarfs
 
   
Made in ca
Skink Chief with Poisoned Javelins




Michigan

Neat, I'd be tempted to pick up a box of these guys for the wolfhounds alone.
   
Made in us
Battlefield Tourist




MN (Currently in WY)

Thanks all! I also like the bare foot look for these guys. Helps add to the "right" feel of the army.

I am finding some minor adhesion problems with my paints with these guys. I think they would benefit from a warm water with Dawn bath to help with this issue. It could also be the fact that I am using cheap acrylics as a base coat. Or it could just all be in my head!

Anyone else have this issue, or just me?

Support Blood and Spectacles Publishing:
https://www.patreon.com/Bloodandspectaclespublishing 
   
Made in us
Battlefield Tourist




MN (Currently in WY)

Well, skirmishers with wolfhounds that I am done painting but still need basing.......



When all was said and done, the painting turned out fine!

Support Blood and Spectacles Publishing:
https://www.patreon.com/Bloodandspectaclespublishing 
   
Made in us
Battlefield Tourist




MN (Currently in WY)

Managed to finish off the main paint jobs for the two units of Slingers.....



Still need basing, but I tend to do all the units at once. Only two more warrior units to go!

Support Blood and Spectacles Publishing:
https://www.patreon.com/Bloodandspectaclespublishing 
   
Made in us
Battlefield Tourist




MN (Currently in WY)

Man, I forgot how much I hate painting shields; but especially ones for the Dark Ages! I should have gotten transfers.

Support Blood and Spectacles Publishing:
https://www.patreon.com/Bloodandspectaclespublishing 
   
Made in ca
Troubled By Non-Compliant Worlds






I'll be keeping an eye on this thread. Batch painting 60 models has definitely qualified you as a madman, so interested to see how this new army turns out.
   
Made in us
Battlefield Tourist




MN (Currently in WY)

Well, it took a bit longer to base these guys than I expected but...... life and all that getting in the way.....



Here is a taste of what the army will look like all based up. I actually got the army finished but, have not had a great chance to take photos of it. Perhaps in the next few days?

This message was edited 1 time. Last update was at 2022/04/21 21:25:59


Support Blood and Spectacles Publishing:
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Made in us
Battlefield Tourist




MN (Currently in WY)

This force is now done....



There are unit pictures and more detail about the process on my blog.

https://bloodandspectacles.blogspot.com/2022/05/on-painting-desk-dark-age-irish-are.html

This message was edited 1 time. Last update was at 2022/05/16 17:25:22


Support Blood and Spectacles Publishing:
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Made in de
Battlefield Tourist






Nuremberg

A very nice warband! I'm from Wexford in the South East of Ireland where there were a lot of Viking Settlements and so I've been planning to do Dark Ages Irish vs. Vikings for ages, have a big stockpile of Gripping Beast and Wargames Factory Minis. Wish I'd waited and gotten these Irish instead, they're great minis and more appropriate than the generic, continental style celts I've bought. Ah well!

Wexford is a cool location for historical gaming, because there's a time period when you have Irish Gaelic, Hiberno-Norse Viking and Norman forces all fighting each other in that region.

   
Made in us
Battlefield Tourist




MN (Currently in WY)

I always enjoy it when my games can take on a local element.

Vikings feature prominently in the local folklore where I am from, but it is all make-believe, not real stuff; thanks to the (in)famous Kensington Runestone.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kensington_Runestone

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