Vikings

I am back after a long break between posts. I have been working on several projects recently, including Vikings. My Vikings have a long history. I first painted them circa 1991-3 for use with the DBM rules as an allied contingent for a West Frankish army. I had 13 stands of heavy infantry and 4 of bowmen. Recently while looking at the DBA army lists I realized that by painting 18 foot and 3 mounted and doing some rebasing, I would have enough stands for all 4 of the DBA Viking sub-lists, which cover Vikings and Leidang from 790-1280 AD. At Cold Wars in March I purchased 1 pack of Essex huscarls, 1 of bondi and 1 of mounted huscarls from Wargames. As a bonus, Essex has redesigned their figures since the 90s and the poses are all different now. I also dug out 2 archers and a mounted general from my stock and set to. It was fun to try and match my painting style from back then; some things I do the same and some differently. I also took the opportunity to fix a few broken spears, chips, etc.

Now I am the proud owner of a Viking horde: 11x4Bd (including general), 9x3Bd (1 stand of berserkers doubles as a 3Wb), 3x3Bw, 1x2Ps and 1x3Kn (general). They are all Essex figures except for 2 of the archers which are Feudal Castings. The 1x7Hd and 1x4Sp in the Leidang lists can be borrowed from one of my other armies. They should make good opponents for my Pre-feudal Scots who will be featured in an upcoming post. To top it all off I bought a lovely Viking longship from Neldoreth to use as a camp.

Shieldwall (11x4Bd - the stand with a flag is the general):

Raiders (9x3Bd):

Archers (3x3Bw & 1x2Ps):

General (1x3Kn):

Viking longship camp:

Entire army: