Romano-British for Dux Britanniarum

Like the Romano-British, the Saxons also get a Champion to accompany their leader. He’s useful for aiding the troops in combat, taking a hit for his boss and engaging in trial by combat with the enemy champion before a battle. A quick roll on the name table tells us this particular psycho goes by the name of Cenfus (pronounced Chen-fuss).

Cenfus is a Gripping Beast sculpt from their Early Saxon Characters set. I’d not really painted someone displaying so much flesh before but I’m happy with how he turned out. I started with VMC Light Brown as a base, with a 50:50 mix of Light Brown and VMC Sunny Skintone as the first highlight. I then did a final highlight of VMC Sunny Skintone and thought I was done. I then received feedback from my wife (always my harshest critic) that he looked very orange and was he meant to be a Dark Ages version of Donald Trump. Stung by this I then went for a further highlight of VMC Flat Flesh in order to tone down the perma-tanned look.

I think I mentioned in an earlier post that I was a bit uncertain about whether or not to cover up the severed head and disguise it as some form of moss covered hillock. In the end I decided to keep it. I have to say that there wasn’t really much to work with in painting terms and I’m not sure it helps the miniature.  It’s essentially part of the base and given that faces and bases are what people look at the most, it does draw attention to itself. Unfortunately, it’s then not particularly obvious what it is unless you look closely and then it’s a distraction from the rest of the figure, which is a pity as I think the rest of it is great.  Perhaps I could have painted the severed head better, but I rather feel that with this miniature  less would have been more.

However, this is really a minor gripe and overall I’m very pleased with how he’s turned out. I’m perilously close to finishing the warband now with just the two nobles and the warlord to come.