They come from the land of the ice and snow...

Just received my HUGE box of Vikings, bought from a fellow moving to distant shores who needed to lighten his lead/plastic load. I've never, ever bought this many minis in one shot, so needless to say, I'm very pleased with myself!
The boys above are from the excellent TV series, and a set of minis I recently sold for some reason or another. These are to show where I'll be taking this project, but my real inspiration is this:
http://www.twfigurines.de/vikings/vikingmain.htm

From Mr Tom Weiss, a set of Vikings that I've been drooling over for years. I hope to organize and document my own endeavor in a similar manner, and hopefully achieve a level somewhere near this masterpiece. Wish me luck!!

Norse-Gael for SAGA

In my continuing effort to try to not buy every single mini I've ever wanted, I recently took on a few small commissions to paint minis I like, but don't really need. ( At least right now!) The first is now complete, Norse-Gael for SAGA, unfortunately now firmly on my to-buy list! Oh well, so much for plans...

Quick paintjobs for tabletop play, a few shield transfers, and a pretty inexpensive price. They get shipped out tomorrow, so I hope their new Warlord likes them!

A rather mercenary lot...

I've been working on a painting commission, so not much work of my own on my projects, but here are some things that a few of my favorite lads did for me for a few projects of my own.
 For my Celtic Myth project, some Alternative Armies minis: the Sidhe by Dr Falkenhayn from the LAF, and the Fir Bolg, from Rob S on the Oldhammer forum:

After the commissions are done, I'd like to paint the rest of the Milesians I started, which you can see here:
http://displacedminiatures.com/LeadAsbestos2010/gallery/3012/

And then on to the Fomorians, and then I'll be left w/ a complete set of AA Celtic Myth, fully painted, and COMPLETE! (One of the joys of buying into a dead line! Don't talk to me about those crappy Nemedians in the Erin line either...)

A Traitor in East Albion

My Oldhammer Challenge forces are mustering!

Tristan, champion of Mark, Warlord under Mcdeath. Recently enamoured of Mark's new bride, Isolde, and the source of great weeping and gnashing of teeth... The shield device is supposed to be a thistle. Remarks about a certain pointy skinned Hawaiian fruit will NOT be entertained! ;)

Norseman, Lennox, Albion noble and best bud of Tristan, and another Norseman. The shifting alliances of the province should provide some in-game entertainment, so I feel no shame in making them all part of the same "warband".

The warband as it currently stands. A few fellows made a trip to a painter pal of mine as part of a lead-for-paint swap and will return when he is done with them, the Foundry mini got dismissed as too small, and the rest are WIPs. I may actually finish this someday!

4 Tiny Men can make a massive difference...

They may not look like much, but these guys made a major impact at Chateau Asbestos. Celt Archers from Renegade. A real joy to paint, easy, not too cluttered, finished them all in 2 short nights. AND they did 3 things:
1. The first minis for my Oldhammer Challenge, done!
2. Saxon force for Dux Brit, done! (Yeah, yeah, I say one hairy barbarian can pass for another easily enough, so there!) All I needed was the archers to finish that side.
3. More troops for my Celts in my Celtic Myth project, as reinforcements for the Milesians. I had feared this was another dead end, but, having enjoyed the painting so much, I broke out the Renegade minis again w/ a force for SAGA in mind.

Odd how four simple minis can bring back the pleasure of our little hobby for me, and get a little re-focus going too.  Hope you like them!

Next time, 4 Romano-British archers from Musketeer... IF all goes according to plan!

Warbands for Oldhammer Challenge!

Well , I got inspired by this:
http://theleadpile.blogspot.com/2014/01/how-do-you-start-oldhammer.html

and, in the interest of getting the most bang for my buck, I'm doing this!:

A true mixed bag. Gripping Beast mostly, w/ Foundry, Artizan, Renegade, Marauder and 99 cent Citadel. Saxons, Vikings, Norse-Gaels, Irish, and Romano-Brits playing the role of Irish, Norse and Scots in old East Albion! Doing a scenario based on the Tristan and Isolde story, either Warhammer 2nd ed. or some more skirmish friendly system, but all to help pave the way for my full Mcdeath campaign. Carboard buildings and moss-on-stick trees will set the scene;)

The boys are not even on their bases mostly, and will also complete my warbands for Dux Brit, 4 archers for Saxons, 4 for Brits. Bonus! Also a nice bard to help tell the tale of our adventure...

Very excited, to say the least! Great idea from whiskey priest to show just what this whole thing is about, that being mostly about having fun playing w/ yr damn toy soldiers!

The Return to Troy!

The first pic is the sum total of the project, including my giant WIP walls. I really hope this project will be my main focus in the coming year, although the impending arrival of Fistful of Kung-Fu might have something to say about that!
Happy New Year!