Post by Eric Farrington on Jan 24, 2022 17:50:59 GMT
Greetings All,
In 2021, I finished painting up a force of Vikings from Victrix. In a fit of craziness, I batch painted all 60 of them all at once over the course of a month or so. I do NOT recommend this approach at all.
If you are interested, you can see the gory details on my blog here: bloodandspectacles.blogspot.com/2021/10/on-painting-desk-lets-go-viking.html
However, for 2022 I wanted to create an opponent for my force. I decided on using the Dark Age Irish from Wargames Atlantic for a a couple of reasons:
1. A strong contrast to my Viking force
2. Try a different provided than Victrix
3. Plastic models and inexpensive for two boxes
Therefore, once 2022 rolled around I made an order and got my boxes delivered quick and tidy.
Overall, the sculpts seemed pretty clean with clear, deep details. However, some of the joins on the sprue left some scrapping in hard to reach areas. They assembled easily and without need of instructions, but I felt like I did more scrapping off join waste than my Victrix efforts. However, no serious issues in the making. I used 1 inch round washers as my bases because those give the plastic models a bit of heft and stability. Wargames Atlantic models come with a "puddle" base but no basing beyond that.
Overall, there are three distinct features that make up a Dark Age Irish army:
1. Bare footed and little to no armor
2. The distinctive Shillelagh walking stick club
3. Irish Wolfhounds
The Irish Wolfhound going into battle besides the Irish forces is a staple of wargaming. However, I am not sure how strong a grasp this common Irish army feature has in reality. I decided to lean into it with my skirmishers being half regular troops and half Wolfhounds. As skirmishers it seemed to make the most sense in the army. I also did not get enough slings for what I had planned, so half the two slinger units are just throwing rocks. This makes the army look considerably less professional than their Viking foes, which I have no issue with.
When all 60 troops were assembled, I had 2 units of warriors, 2 units of slingers, and 2 units of skirmishers (with Wolfhounds blocking out their numbers, even though I had enough miniatures of men if I wanted). I normally add the shields after I have them painted, as a final step.
Next steps are to undercoat them by brush white, and then block in the flesh tones. I will be updating my progress here as I go, so let's buckle in and go on a little Dark Age Irish journey.
In 2021, I finished painting up a force of Vikings from Victrix. In a fit of craziness, I batch painted all 60 of them all at once over the course of a month or so. I do NOT recommend this approach at all.
If you are interested, you can see the gory details on my blog here: bloodandspectacles.blogspot.com/2021/10/on-painting-desk-lets-go-viking.html
However, for 2022 I wanted to create an opponent for my force. I decided on using the Dark Age Irish from Wargames Atlantic for a a couple of reasons:
1. A strong contrast to my Viking force
2. Try a different provided than Victrix
3. Plastic models and inexpensive for two boxes
Therefore, once 2022 rolled around I made an order and got my boxes delivered quick and tidy.
Overall, the sculpts seemed pretty clean with clear, deep details. However, some of the joins on the sprue left some scrapping in hard to reach areas. They assembled easily and without need of instructions, but I felt like I did more scrapping off join waste than my Victrix efforts. However, no serious issues in the making. I used 1 inch round washers as my bases because those give the plastic models a bit of heft and stability. Wargames Atlantic models come with a "puddle" base but no basing beyond that.
Overall, there are three distinct features that make up a Dark Age Irish army:
1. Bare footed and little to no armor
2. The distinctive Shillelagh walking stick club
3. Irish Wolfhounds
The Irish Wolfhound going into battle besides the Irish forces is a staple of wargaming. However, I am not sure how strong a grasp this common Irish army feature has in reality. I decided to lean into it with my skirmishers being half regular troops and half Wolfhounds. As skirmishers it seemed to make the most sense in the army. I also did not get enough slings for what I had planned, so half the two slinger units are just throwing rocks. This makes the army look considerably less professional than their Viking foes, which I have no issue with.
When all 60 troops were assembled, I had 2 units of warriors, 2 units of slingers, and 2 units of skirmishers (with Wolfhounds blocking out their numbers, even though I had enough miniatures of men if I wanted). I normally add the shields after I have them painted, as a final step.
Next steps are to undercoat them by brush white, and then block in the flesh tones. I will be updating my progress here as I go, so let's buckle in and go on a little Dark Age Irish journey.
