If you’ve been around our Titanicus (play it), Age of Sigmar, or Conquest portions of the site you might have seen my name under some articles, but this is my first and (Lenoon/Mugginns allowing) not my last in the world of Historical writing.

For background, I got into wargaming first with the Lord of the Rings game (now Middle Earth Strategy Battle Game) when I was maybe 12 years old. Then the Battle for Macragge set came out and I got into 40k followed by Battle for Skull Pass to start my long and consistent love for all-things-dwarf. I fell out of the hobby in my mid-teens since the Games Workshop in the Festival at Bel Air shut (during that time when a lot of GW shops shut, and the remainder went to single-staff shops). A few years later I moved across to the UK for Uni and my housemate Ben was collecting some 40k, so I thought “why not get back into it?” followed by working part time at the Kingston GW store while studying before leaving and now I’m here. I didn’t leave to get here, but I’m here now and you don’t want to know about my real life.

Editors note: It’s SAGA Summer! Enjoy our coverage during the raiding season as we take a look at the factions, miniatures, and everything else you need to get started playing SAGA and earning massacre points. 

These days I’m what is often referred to as a “hobby butterfly” fluttering between different projects for a dozen or so systems. I used to be a gamer-first and hobbyist-second but over lockdown that became more of a 50/50 split and is starting to lean more on the hobby side; but everything I do does need to be for gaming with at least the intent of playing. If I had to pick a “main” game system then it’s probably Age of Sigmar. It’s good and there’s a huge local scene for it.

In the last 18 years since getting into wargaming I have never actually considered Historical games to any extent other than “well those sure do exist!” but I turned 30 in April and not long after bought my first bag minis and here I am. So, yay?

Vikings and SAGA

Given my love of Games Workshop’s sixth and seventh edition era of dwarf aesthetic this was not that far of a leap to make, the models just have longer legs. Now I’ve lied a little, I had started side-eyeing SAGA as a games system the last couple of years seeing many friends posting admittedly very cool warbands and minis for the game. Combine that with a vague semi-passing interest in Vikings after reading Neil Gaiman’s American Gods and Norse Mythology, as well as playing Assassin’s Creed Valhalla, I finally un-muted the Goonhammer Discord Historicals channel and started asking questions; the history lessons that followed were more in-depth than expected but very appreciated. If it weren’t for these groups of people, I really don’t know if I’d made the plunge.

Over those couple of years being semi-curious about SAGA the one thing that every person kept saying was just how good of a game system it is. Then someone said “it’s a lot like Titanicus, everyone has basically the same units, but the faction adds a couple options and defines how they play” which really cinched the deal. I’m a sucker for a good system and having played two whole games of it at time of writing can say that it is, actually, a very good system.

Someone in our Historical channel also recommended that I read The Children of Ash and Elm when asking after some reading material on the history of Vikings. I’m a slow reader (unless it’s rules) so I’m only about a third into it still but it’s great. Pick it up. I’ve been both surprised and impressed with the look at Viking’s culture outside of just battles and myth.

Getting Into It

Getting started was a bit daunting. I’d only ever really played games where models are designed very specifically for that game. Proxies and alternate models might exist but it’s still very clear as to what it’s supposed to look like and be.  One thing that concerned me was getting stuff “wrong” after hearing how picky and potentially toxic historical gaming communities could be if you built or painted something inaccurate. I cannot understate how wrong I was about that!

Between some incredibly helpful feedback to my questions one of the biggest things that kept coming up was “well we don’t actually know” which really set me at ease. I could still paint my-dudes as my-dudes, and it not be “wrong” which is my favourite part of the hobby side. Turns out the people playing historicals games aren’t as bad you might have heard, button counting and absolute-historical-correctness doesn’t really seem to be that big of a thing. Turns out hobbyists/gamers across games all just want the same thing, to do the hobby and enjoy it with others?? Maddening.

Now began the process of finding out just how many different companies exist that make historical minis; never having really looked at these before I was very glad to have incredibly helpful guidance on what minis to pick up, what my options were, how I could build them, and everything else. If I didn’t have this sort of support (enabler?) network I’m not sure I’d really have made the dive to begin with, it’s incredibly daunting. I was told and fully believed that SAGA is a “skirmish” game and then came to learn that “skirmish” means something very different in the world of Historical Wargaming. It’s not a handful-to-a-dozen schmucks running around but between maybe 25 at the low end up to 73 minis in a warband. A warband. That’s more minis than some full “armies” of other systems I play! [Editor’s Note: skirmish is more of a historical term for a smaller scale engagement that didn’t turn into a full-on drawn out battle with thousands of warriors, or a smaller engagement before the real thing – the term has been changed in a wargaming sense by some companies to mean 5-10 guys, but really that’s just a gang fight, brawl, or group battle.]

In the end I decided the way to start would be the easy/straightforward option: straight up Vikings for the Age of Vikings and ended up painting 65 minis for this collection (so far). Fortunately, Victrix exist and sell a bag of 60 Vikings for all the plastics you’ll ever need and the quality of these is absurd, much higher than you expect for the price tag of £42. Add on transfer sheets, rulebook, supplement book, a metal Shieldmaiden Warlord and Shieldmaidens from Gripping Beast and I’ve got more minis than I’ll ever use in a single game for under £100. That’s not a price point I’m used to and fear that it’s going to turn into more projects.

Having looked around since at various other historical periods I’ve come to realise just how good Victrix are. These are probably the best plastic minis created, for any sort of game, other than Games Workshop. The quality for cost here is just insane.

Building and Painting

So I’ve got my bag of minis (literally, sprues in a bag, it rules) plus some 25mm flat plastic bases and a 50mm one for my warlord. The building was super easy here, there are marked out pieces for specific bodies but enough freedom to create many different poses. In the Age of Vikings SAGA rules the bog-standard Vikings have very few options when not taking any legendary lords: the Levies can have bows or javelins and one unit of Huscarls can be Berserkers. That means all my warriors and regular huscarls don’t have choices in-game: just hand weapons and shields. That bag of Victrix Vikings has 60 minis and enough bits to make four guys with bear pelts for Berserkers, some more heavily armoured bodies which are great for Hearthguard, a load of moderately-armoured guys for Warriors and then plenty in just-clothes perfect for Levies with javelins and shields (and plenty of javelins for them!).

I built the four Berserkers, gave my four Hearthguard either paired axes or two-handed axes with shields on their backs to stand out, a load of warriors with a sword or axe and shield and then a whole point of twelve levies with javelins. I also learned through this process that you can take a banner in your warband and so had to make one them a banner carrier. That takes me straight to a full six point warband without looking at any other sets! I did build a warlord using a fancier looking body with cloak and a second guy on the base holding a banner but decided to go with something different.

Of course, I didn’t actually stop there and added a second point of levies by splitting a bag of Dark Age archers with a friend using spare Viking heads on most of the bodies so they fit in a bit better. Then, also, I realised that shieldmaidens are an actual unit I could hire in so picked up the Gripping Beast set to use there. These will work great as either shieldmaidens or just a point of female warriors. The models are 3-piece metal minis that aren’t as nice as the Victrix Vikings so I gave them spare shields and weapons from the Viking bag, they’re a bit better detailed and help them fit in better with the warband.

My actual Warlord is not plastic. The SAGA rulebook is great in almost its entirety but the section under creating your own warlord has this section: “This is your alter ego during the game, the testosterone-laden projection of your most fever fantasies”.

Ew.

So, my Warlord is the shieldmaiden hero from Gripping Beast, was only £4.50 and she rules holding aloft a bird I originally painted as a dove but quickly changed over to a raven because it matches the iconography on the banners a lot better. I just thought the white bird would look cool then someone asked if it was even painted. Amazing. I decided to make this base a mini diorama as it’s large for just one mini, adding a dude holding a banner to really make the model stand out.

After building all of these up, head/arm swaps and all, it was time to paint. After asking this incredible historicals network what colours Vikings would wear I came to learn that they had a surprising amount of dyes available from their regions and so wouldn’t just be the drab greens and browns I thought they might. Mine might be a little too bright but I really love how they came out, how varied they all look, and how they look as a force on the tabletop. Each soldier just going to war with their own personally owned arms and armour.

For the shields and banners I used the Little Big Men Studio transfers ordered when I bought my Viking bag. I had never seen transfers like this, being more accustomed to the Games Workshop style waterslide transfer and was pretty intimidated, actually. After watching a few Youtube videos on how to apply them and ordering a set of small sewing scissors I got to work cutting them out as neatly as a I could and sticking to shields. I was very happy to realise that I’d be able to easily have no duplicate shields too even across around 60 minis! If you’re new to these too it’s pretty simple, surprisingly:

1. Cut the transfers to shape, they already have the hole in the middle (for the shield boss) cut out for you
2. Remove the clear film on the front
3. Apply to the area that’s painted white
4. Soak the back in water with a clean paintbrush to remove
5. Done!

That’s for the shields; for the banners it’s a little trickier since you have to stick them to something to start with! I did the warlord’s first and used the thin metal tube of tomato puree primed white and cut to form; then decided that that was way too much work and just used some regular paper for the shieldmaiden and warrior banners which worked just fine! I attached the banner flat to the paper, cut it out, and then used mod podge to glue the pieces together around the banner pole. Nice and easy and has a good, strong, bond.

Lastly I came to the basing. I wanted these to be as colourful and vibrant for spring time/early summer raids. The texture paint is the regular mud from AMMO by Mig shaded over with Agrax; that’s applied thick so as to cover the gap/height made by the integral base of the minis. After that’s all dry I applied a variety of tufts and flowers from Gamers Grass that I already had using a mix of different grasses to give a more natural and less uniform look. We aren’t affiliated with either of these brands they just both rule and you should use them.

All in all, these eight points plus warlord took about 10 days to build and paint start to finish. The minis take contrast and speed paints extremely well and look great with some simple highlighting after, keeping it simple and quick. Now all that’s left to do is play some games!

First Games of SAGA

At this point I’ve only played two games of SAGA, both back to back across one 4 hour evening, under the tutelage of Necedemalis7 our newest historicals writer and long-time SAGA player. It was a great couple of games using the first just to get to grips with game mechanics and the second playing an actual scenario and getting to use my shieldmaidens. I haven’t had the time to play more yet but am itching to and already planning more projects (Huns, next!) for this fantastic game.

I’m not going to explain how the game plays, we have better writers that have already done that, but the way you activate units, have to plan ahead with movement and battle board abilities is just fantastic. SAGA flows smoothly and the rules are simple enough to pick up but easy to see where the depth in mastering them is going to be. That’s what I really look for in a game, something that I can pick up and start playing with relative ease but that has plenty to think about between games on how you might approach the next and form your army even with so few unit types. Just fantastic.

More and More!

This is really just the beginning. With a planned Hun warband and very probable Carthagians to paint some elephants, it’s impossible to not also be eyeing up the Wargames Atlantic and Victrix Crusades era sets that are out and coming out. Dangerous territory. I’ve even started looking at smaller scale historicals or other games to use some of these minis in like Barons War…

There will definitely be more.

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