Saxon Huscarls

I had a productive week and managed to finish eight huscarls for my Saxon warband (models are all Footsore Miniatures).

As I mentioned in my first post on this project, these are for Donnybrook. I think it is probably unrealistic for the warriors to have the same color shields without all bearing the same device as well, but I wanted to tie the unit together visually. I also wanted the shields to be dark and brooding to emphasize the grim nature of these household troops. I decided to avoid black and opted for a dark blue (French Blue 65A-C) and a warm brown (Bay Brown 42A-C). Slashes and pock marks were carefully painted with French Blue Shade 65A and the undersides of these highlighted with Slate Grey 32B (on the blue) and Spearshaft Brown 13B (on the brown). These are all Wargames Foundry colors. By the way, the Foundry French Blue triad has worked it's way into my list of 'Paints I Can't Do Without'. It is a great alternative to black, providing contrast to your models with a richer finish.

As I also mentioned before, I'm using the 1-2-3 basing system of Dalauppror for this collection. I HATE the look of movement trays once units start accumulating casualties. This method of basing allows for easy casualty removal while allowing for quicker movement and the ability to create vignettes. The models won't be ranked as neatly as units on square bases, but I think that's inappropriate for this period anyway. Even close order troops would likely not be able to maintain precision formations advancing across uneven ground.

I'm starting on the Fyrd next week. Their shields will have much more variety in color, though I'm still going to choose muted tones - blue grey, terracotta, bone, etc.

We are going to produce an 'official' Dark Age supplement in PDF that should be available this fall, but you will still need the Donnybrook rulebook to play the game. The PDF will present rule mods and special characters to set your games in the 7th-11th centuries (and probably a bit more either way). I'll have more details on this as I have more concrete information.

In a bit of other news, sometime during Historicon I passed 500 posts (I think this makes 505)! I just wanted to thank everyone who keeps stopping by. I find blogs a great tool for myself to catalog projects and I often look up old posts to see how I painted something or verify the number of models in a collection without digging out the storage boxes (my collection has long outgrown the two large display cases I own). The fact that anyone else wants to follow my rambling is icing on the cake.

Thanks, and stay tuned!