Great show.
@warzan – You could make Lagertha a ‘hero of the Viking age’ to fit in with the Saga rules. If you based her on a larger base you would permanently need to field her as a warlord or a hero sadly, but you get to play with some special rules for her that you and your opponent would need to agree on, (but if you base it on some of the current hero traits that are already in the book they shouldn’t object.)
Blood Eagle executions. Sadly from the few sources I have found it could have been a Christian interpretation of some Viking poetry. (Deliberately making the pagan Vikings look more savage and uncivilised than perhaps they truly were). The poetry and writings of two standout executions in the sagas held up as potential proof that this practice did exist and involved the words “eagles” and “blood”, but the Vikings were known to use eagles in their mythology around death and the details are more likely to have been a poetic exaggeration or just metaphorical rather than literal. There seems to be stronger evidence that human sacrifice had been part of Viking culture, so some historians suggest that talk of these religious rites are being misinterpreted or exaggerated as a type of execution. I almost said that ‘it’s a shame it isn’t likely to be true’ and then I realised the horror of witnessing or going through such a thing and should rejoice that few, if anyone, went through this execution.

28mm – I think that perhaps not having a standard is harming the industry a little. I know that anyone already in the hobby will find their way around and after a little experience will not find the differences between companies a problem. For people just venturing into the hobby when they buy different ranges they could feel cheated that their miniatures look bizarre together on the table top when their purportedly the same ‘scale’. I don’t think that everything should look true scale; I don’t think everything should have heroic proportions, but I do think that a basic height could be agreed on if you are putting the term 28mm on your product. I have a ’28mm’ commando sniper from Black Tree Designs who is the same height kneeling as a ‘28mm’ Warlord plastic commando is standing up. I think not having a scale just presents itself as another barrier into the hobby for outsiders.

The cost of miniatures has always been a concern of mine. Every penny spent on my hobby could be spent on a myriad of family related fun, any amount of household projects or saved for a rainy day. If I don’t shop around for the best price when considering a purchase, or if I make an expensive impulse buy I feel guilty afterwards. Now that I have a big stock of miniatures to paint and collection of games I am yet to play (or have played far too little of) I find that my threshold around what I consider expensive has changed. I now find that if I am going to spend a while painting some miniatures I want them to be of a good quality so that painting is more enjoyable and the potential outcome far better. If I persevere with what I know if a lesser quality sculpted miniature and the end result is mediocre, I may have saved a £1 or more per model but I could potentially halve the enjoyment. There has to be a balance and everyone finds their price range eventually.
Hopefully I’ll be able to tune into the live hobby night at some point. Happy gaming.