Midgard : Britannia (Mounted Warriors 2)

I really struggled to get these finished this week - it was extremely hot here in the UK and my painting mojo deserted me in favour of staying cool and sipping cold drinks. They seemed to take much longer than last week's efforts and I felt that I spent a lot more hours on these to get them right, even though they are still just a basic paint job and shade wash. I struggled again with the vast expanse of horse flesh and all the little bits and bobs around the saddles. That said, it is four more figures and one more base completed.

More Mounted Warriors

Again, there is a mixture of rider types on the horses to break up the painting monotony. I also ran out of spare shields that were easy to hand (I put one aside for one of the female warriors which I will get to soon, but I think I may have a few more on some old Roman plastic sprues), so only seven of the eight riders has a shield. To be honest that does not bother me as it makes them look more like a warband than a formal army. The unit cohesion still seems to be there though...

Two Units of Mounted Warriors

Here's the ongoing army tally...

All of the Celtic figures that were based for Midgard (50 of 106 completed)...

• 3/4 bases of standard warriors (30/40 figures)

• 2 bases of elite warriors (20 figures)

• 1 base of female warriors (10 figures)

• 2 bases of mounted warriors (8 figures)

• 2 bases of archers (8 figures)

• 2 bases of slingers (8 figures)

• 2 bases of skyclad warriors (8 figures)

• 1 base of hounds (4 figures)

And here is a list of the rest...

• 36 standard warriors and elite warriors still on their sprues

• 7 leader types

• 4 druids

• 8 spearmen

• 2 mounted warriors

• 2 slingers

• 3 chariots and 6 crew

I am just under the mid-point of painting the based units, so here is a group shot of where I am at so far. They are beginning to take the shape of a reasonably sized army now...

The Finished Warband Bases so far

I haven't decided on the next base yet - maybe some armoured elite warriors? This will present a different challenge to the cavalry as there are ten figures on each base. Probably the same amount of area to paint as the mounted warriors but they will be more fiddly.

Midgard : Britannia (Mounted Warriors 1)

This time I present you with the first base of finished mounted warriors. I actually finished them on Sunday but have only just now found the time to write the post. These needed to be painted from scratch (well, they had an undercoat) and took me quite a bit longer to complete than the three previous units. The horses proved a bit of a challenge due to the large areas of hide involved, but I just continued painting for a bit longer each day. I went over the lines quite often with these so had to keep going back to touch up where I had made mistakes. I think that they have turned out OK considering.

Mounted Warriors

Like the previous completed figures, these were just a basic paint job - nothing fancy, just coloured in and lightly shaded to get them ready for use on the gaming table. I tried to put a mixture of rider types onto the horses to break up the painting monotony. Each base (including the one I will be painting this coming week) has a mailed chieftain/leader type, and three wearing a variety of upper body wear and wielding a variety of weapons. I wanted to give the units a bit of coherence, so they all got some Roman round shields painted in solid colours.

Here's the ongoing army tally...

All of the Celtic figures that were based for Midgard (46 of 106 completed)...

• 3/4 bases of standard warriors (30/40 figures)

• 2 bases of elite warriors (20 figures)

• 1 base of female warriors (10 figures)

• 1/2 bases of mounted warriors (4/8 figures)

• 2 bases of archers (8 figures)

• 2 bases of slingers (8 figures)

• 2 bases of skyclad warriors (8 figures)

• 1 base of hounds (4 figures)

And here is a list of the rest...

• 36 standard warriors and elite warriors still on their sprues

• 7 leader types

• 4 druids

• 8 spearmen

• 2 mounted warriors

• 2 slingers

• 3 chariots and 6 crew

I managed to paint most days again this week but, as mentioned above, I had to up the minutes per day to complete them on time.

Next base should be more Mounted Warriors.

Midgard : Britannia (Skyclad Warriors 2)

Next up is the second base of finished skyclad warriors. Like the previous base, the figures had already been undercoated in a flesh colour - I just had to add a few colours again. I painted for a little longer each day and was able to finish these ones slightly quicker than the previous base. Here they are in their finished status...

Celtic Skyclad Warriors

Another quick-win as the base only consisted of four figures again.

Here are both of the skyclad warrior bases...

Two Units of Celtic Skyclad Warriors

Here's the ongoing army tally...

All of the Celtic figures that were based for Midgard (42 of 106 completed)...

• 3/4 bases of standard warriors (30/40 figures)

• 2 bases of elite warriors (20 figures)

• 1 base of female warriors (10 figures)

• 2 bases of mounted warriors (8 figures)

• 2 bases of archers (8 figures)

• 2 bases of slingers (8 figures)

• 2 bases of skyclad warriors (8 figures)

• 1 base of hounds (4 figures)

And here is a list of the rest...

• 36 standard warriors and elite warriors still on their sprues

• 7 leader types

• 4 druids

• 8 spearmen

• 2 mounted warriors

• 2 slingers

• 3 chariots and 6 crew

I have managed to get some painting time in on most days over the last couple of weeks, and the numbers of completed miniatures is growing slowly but surely. My painting confidence is growing again but I am still suffering a little with the light. I will keep the miniatures in this army to a basic paint job for now. I may experiment a bit more when I get to painting some fantasy units.

Next up should be a unit of Mounted Warriors.

Midgard Heroic Battles: Britannia (Skyclad Warriors 1)

And, here we have the second unit/base of finished figures - four skyclad warriors on a skirmish style base. This base was another quick win as the figures were already undercoated in a flesh colour - I just had to add a few colours and refresh the paint a little on the flesh...

Celtic Skyclad Warriors

Another quick-win for the army - I only had to complete four figures this time.

Here's the ongoing tally...

All of the Celtic figures that were based for Midgard (38 of 106 completed)...

• 3/4 bases of standard warriors (30/40 figures)

• 2 bases of elite warriors (20 figures)

• 1 base of female warriors (10 figures)

• 2 bases of mounted warriors (8 figures)

• 2 bases of archers (8 figures)

• 2 bases of slingers (8 figures)

• 1/2 bases of skyclad warriors (4/8 figures)

• 1 base of hounds (4 figures)

And here is a list of the rest...

• 36 standard warriors and elite warriors still on their sprues

• 7 leader types

• 4 druids

• 8 spearmen

• 2 mounted warriors

• 2 slingers

• 3 chariots and 6 crew

Painting time was kept to around 20-30 minutes per day again. This method seems to be working as I am being disciplined enough to set aside the time each day to get the painting done. It is also just long enough that I am actually enjoying seeing the figures come alive in my hands as more layers of paint go on and I am not getting bored. Let's hope my attention span doesn't waver and keeps going. I did notice though, that when the light faded a bit, my vision failed rapidly and I had to call a halt as I just could not focus on the miniatures in the less than bright light.

Next up should be some more skyclad fanatics.

Midgard Heroic Battles : Britannia (Dog Handler)

Well, as promised, here is the first finished figure since I restarted painting my old Celt/Briton army miniatures. A nice quick-win for the army - one new fully painted unit to join the three bases of warriors - I only had to daub a bit of paint onto one figure. He took me a couple of hours in total to complete, even with the stripes on his pants - they didn't turn out too well, but they add a bit of colour. I do like how the sleeves and collar of his shirt turned out though...

Celtic Master of Hounds

The three hounds for the base were already completed but I have now added their handler...

Celtic Dog Handler and some Wolfhounds

Here's an ongoing tally of what I have achieved so far. I will strike through when completed and italicise any unit that is partially completed with a tally quote...

All of the Celtic figures that were based for Midgard...

• 3/4 bases of standard warriors (30/40 figures)

• 2 bases of elite warriors (20 figures)

• 1 base of female warriors (10 figures)

• 2 bases of mounted warriors (8 figures)

• 2 bases of archers (8 figures)

• 2 bases of slingers (8 figures)

• 2 bases of skyclad warriors (8 figures)

• 1 base of hounds (4 figures)

And here is a list of the rest...

• 36 standard warriors and elite warriors still on their sprues

• 7 leader types

• 4 druids

• 8 spearmen

• 2 mounted warriors

• 2 slingers

• 3 chariots and 6 crew

This has whetted my appetite for getting more done now. I am spending about 20-30 minutes per day painting - little, but often and it appears to be working so far. It took a while to get my eye back in and I "went over the lines" a fair bit so had to keep going back to repaint what I had spoiled. I think it looks OK though as my first attempt back to painting in quite a while.

Next up should be some naked fanatics - skyclad warriors in my Midgard : Britannia parlance.