Sláine: Kiss My Paintbrush!

This is the third and final unit of “Big Fomorians”.  It is made up of two different Balor models.  On the left is the one from Brigade Models Celtos range.  On the right we have the one from Alternative Armies Erin range.  They are suitably impressive and different enough to give the diversity that I’m after.  I didn’t attach the back banner to the Celtos model, I don’t like the look of it, it unbalances the sculpt in my opinion.  It will make a good standard for another unit.

Here are the first two parts, the commands of the two magic users.  The Shaman has the Beastmaster trait to help him manage the mammoth so his command includes that and then two units of skirmishers. The new models are the shaman and familiar by Brigade Models and the archer scouts who are orcs by Alternative Armies.

Next we have the Sorceress and her units, one of ‘Big Fomorians’ and two of the horde bases.  She is a Brigade mini, her maw beasts were a recent freebie from Alternative Armies.  The big models are also AA, Morc and Conand Horses Head.

The AA command group are in these units.  The drummer and standard in the first and the leader with helmet and cape in the second.  I used LBMS banner transfers for the standard.  The armoured commander in the second unit is a  new Brigade Model although his shield is by AA.

I’m upgrading the main factions to 300 points each.  This will be the Drunes, Tribes of the Earth Goddess and the Fomorians.  I’m starting with the Fomorians and worked out a 300 point list as follows:

Heroes (99 pts) :
Balor of the Evil Eye (Level 3 Army Commander) – 41pts
Sorceress (L2) – 33pts
Shaman (L2) – 25pts

Troops (165pts):
6x Fomorian Hordes (on bases of 10 models) – 78pts
3x Big Fomorians (on bases of 2 models) – 63pts
1x Scouts with bows – 13pts
1x Skirmishers with javelins – 11pts

Monster:
Mammoth – 36pts

Part of the point of doing this is to be able to get some more models that I like to add to these forces.  Warlord were liquidating their range so an extra box of Fomorians were ordered.  I already had a couple of bits including the old Eastland sculpts that North Star put out occasionally and from Alternative Armies Morc and Conand of the Horses Head.  I went back to Alternative Armies for some of their new Fomorians, including the command group and a big model (their Balor).  I also scoured their classical fantasy range and found some great old school orc sculpts that will be great for the scout archers and some with minimal clothing as horde warriors.  Then I went to Brigade Models who make the Celtos range.  I chose some beastmen and armoured orcs from them as well as another big model (their Balor).  I was lucky enough to find a pack of four Black Tree Designs Celtic Orcs on eBay.  Finally I spotted a new Fomorian from Lucid Eye so stuck that on a small order to them.

When everything arrived (except the Lucid Eye one) I primed in grey with a white zenith and will paint as per my step-by-step from earlier in this project.  This is what everything looks like.  You can see the force divided into 3 columns each led by one of the heroes.

Talos was a bronze figure who defended the island of Crete in ancient times.  In this fantasy setting in Antidiluvian Europe I am hoping to broaden the forces by introducing a Minoan faction.  I’m starting with a giant.  Talos the Man of Bronze.  He is a resin miniature by Mierce Miniatures.

He was painted in AP Speedpaint Bronze which was then mixed with some dots of green, red and brown and the bronze was dotted with the mixed paints to add some interest and variety to the colour.  He has some corrosion sculpted on so next this was tackled with some dark green and then GW Technical paint Nihilakh Oxide neat, then mixed with white, then neat again.  Finally the glowing face and eyes were started with red ink, then red speedpaints then working inwards; Vallejo Fluro Magenta and Orange, Orange, Orange and Yellow and fianlly neat Yellow and two tiny whit dots for focal points in the eyes.

In the graphic novel ‘Demon Killer’, Slaine it transported through time to help Boudica against the Caesarians led by “a friend of Nero”, Elfric the demon from the El dimension.  This is one of my favourite Slaine storylines so I was always going to add some Caesarians to support Elfric in his battles.  Models are Victrix Imperial Romans Advancing.  Painted with AP Speedpaints over the high contrast zenith undercoat I’ve detailed already.  The only change was using Polished Silver with a Nuln Oil wash, rather than the NMM approach I took before.

These are intended for use in Midgard as opponents for my Earth Tribes.  I’ve deliberately broken the rule about maximum hero value in a force here by taking 115 points of heroes and only 85 points of troops in this 200 point force.  That’s how I want it and I run the games so my players will go with what I’ve set up.

Here’s the whole force:

Elfric is Level 4, the Centurion Level 3 and the Optio Level 2.  There is a unit of El Women who are a combination of Medium Cavalry and Light Infantry Skirmishers traits.  Finally 2 units of Caesarian legionaries.

The force is quite different to the others as these hit very hard and Elfric is the only Level 4 hero in my game so far.  They should prove an interesting challenge to the Earth Tribes.

The Gaesetae are a brotherhood of mercenaries.  They draw members from across the Young Lands and bands can form with former members of many different tribes, religions and cultures.  They fight naked to show their skill, devotion and martial prowess; and to ‘put the willies up their opponents’.

The miniatures are mostly Ragnarok with a few Black Tree Designs Viking Berserkers to make up the numbers.  I need 16 to make two stands for Midgard and they come in at 50 points which is handy as they are mercenaries so will be an easy add-on to any of the existing factions.

They are painted with AP Speedpaints over a zenithed undercoat (white over grey).  This was better than the usual highly graphic white over black I’ve been using so far on this project.  This is because as I found out on earlier models the Crusader Skin Speedpaint doesn’t show up over the blacker tones, grey is as dark as it can cope with.

Tattoos are done with a dark blue/green Speedpaint and are quite thick lines, this is a compromise to help speed things up but in units like these I think it makes individual patterns easier to pick out with the models in dynamic poses and close together on the Midgard group bases.

The shields are LBMS from the big Jomsviking set.  The flag was cut out of an old Wargames Illustrated where a couple of pages were printed with Viking flags.

And now onto the Midgard 12cm frontage bases:

We got together to play our first Midgard game last week.  Nick D took on the role of Slough Feg with his Drunes supported by the Fomorians, Nick M was Slaine and the Tribes of the Earth Goddess and our host Mike C lead their Fir Bolg allies.

Setup. The Drunes and Fomorians are gathering at the Wickerman to sacrifice their prisoners to their twisted god Crom-Cruach in a debauched ceremony.  Slaine has gathered the Earth Tribes and allied with the Fir Bolg to recover their friends who are about to be sacrificed.  They hope to take prisoners to sacrifice in the Wickerman to their glorious goddess the Earth Mother.

Scenario. We played the first scenario in the book which is a straight up clash and bash scenario.  The only variation is the opportunity for a champion’s challenge at the beginning.  There was a roll off and Slough Feg won but in typically sneaky fashion decided against issuing a challenge.

Slaine’s army were deemed to be the attackers and would therefore get the first activation in each turn.

Deployment.  Slaine’s deployment looked like this.  The Fir Bolg at the bottom of the image on the left wing.  King Gann and the Falians are next with Slaine and the Fir Domain and Sessair supported by the Red Branch warriors in reserve.  At the top of the picture we see King Rudraige by the woods with the Fianna almost hidden from our view above the woods.

They started with 8 reputation tokens and their vessel is the silver quaich.

The Drune deployment has the Fomorians on their right at the bottom of the picture with the mammoth on the extreme wing and the werewolves between it and the Fomorian warriors supported by the Big Fomorians.

Slough Feg holds post in the centre with his Drune warriors  and Giant supporting the Half Dead.  At the top on the left wing are Madb and the Badb and the crossbow skirmishers.

They also strated with 8 reputation tokens and their vessel is the shining golden goblet.

Turn 1 and 2 saw the forces advance toward each other.  King Rudraige expended many mighty deeds as he heroically battled the nettles and brambles in the woods but failed to make much progress (he kept failing his second move activation rolls).

Turn 2 saw the first shots fired as the crossbow skirmishers had a pot shot at the advancing Sessair but no damage done.  It turns out that needing 6s at long range on 6 dice isn’t likely to hurt an Armour 3 unit.

Turn 3 saw the start of the action as both sides threw their expendable unit into the fray.  Neither side had a leader in the first unit to clash so missed out on the reputation bonus available.

The Half Dead met the Reborn and a drawn combat resulted in the attacker’s phase with the Half Dead edging a victory in the defender’s phase but Relentless ensured neither unit would be able to back down.

Turns 4 and 5 were pretty brutal affairs as the lines met.  The picture shows the state of play at the end of Turn 4.  The Fir Bolg faced off against the Fomorians and a unit of warriors got flattened by the mammoth but did at least damage it.  2 reputation out of Slaine’s quaich.  The Fomorian hordes got stuck in. One did okay against the second Fir bolg warriors but the other one in the centre of the table but found it tough going against the Earth Tribe warriors.

The Reborn finally saw off the Half Dead (-1 rep to Slough Feg).  Ineffective plinking from the crossbows as King Rudraige finally extracted himself from the woods and the Fianna started to threaten the Drune left wing.

Score. Slaine 6 Rep : Slough Feg 7 Rep.

Turn 5. Action in the centre saw the Reborn removed but the Badb were lost and Megrim only joined their combat after they charged so lost out on a reputation token.  Slaine -1 Rep, Slough Feg -2  The Fomorians battling the Fir Domain were killed (Slough Feg -1)

The key action was at the bottom of the board with the Fomorians just edging out the Fir Bolg warriors with support from Balor and the Werewolves (Slaine -2 rep).  Cruically though the Fir Bolg Ogre charged and killed the Fomorian Mammoth which inflicted a loss of 4 reputation tokens on Slough Feg.

Slough Feg decided to join the Big Fomorians and tried to charge the Falians but failed the second movement activation and had run out of Mighty Deeds to be able to reroll to get the charge home.  That meant he missed out on getting a reputation token and at the end of the turn his shining golden goblet was empty!

Score. Slaine 3 Rep : Slough Feg 0 Rep.

Conclusion.  Slough Feg and his allies slither away into the darkness.  Long into the night the Earth Tribes feast before the glowing pyre of the Wickerman.

Some thoughts on the game

We all thoroughly enjoyed the game.  The way the battle unfolded suited the Earth Tribes whose largely heavy infantry based force had the advantage in a clash and bash style engagement, think Romans versus Barbarians for the way the two forces were put together.

Unsurprisingly the Earth Tribes players were happy with their actions although they might have preferred King Rudraige to get into the action a bit sooner.  They were a bit surprised by the high level of attrition once combat started and the agressive Fir Bolg suffered a lot of casualties despite managing to force the win by beating the mammoth.

For their part the Drunes felt they needed to handle their force a bit differently and make use of the better maneuverability of their force.  The werewolves for instance might have been better on the open left wing rather than in a supporting role and skirmishers could have been used to draw units out of the battle line using Evade.  They needed to get their heroes into units and charging to help their weaker forces against the stronger units of the opposition and pick up the reputation bonus tokens.  Shooting didn’t do much good and clearly needs combining with other unit actions against a specific enemy.  Likewise the mammoth probably needed closer support units.  That said they might well have pulled off a draw if they had got Slough Feg and his Brutal unit to charge home.

Really pleased this project has a second Golden Button.  Thanks to all concerned.  This is the first one of my projects to get two.  As requested I have added eyes to the Falians.  Gerry is right about most things hobby, and rather like Justin, ‘When he’s right, he’s right!’