From MichaelF: 28mm Viking Warband II (55 points)

Michael sends in another beautifully painted warband for his growing collection for SAGA.

These are a mix of 28mm Foundry, Artizan and Crusader models.

The shield transfers turned-out great and really do a nice job in finishing the figures.

Michael also sends in a few pictures of his Viking 'Kurtgeld' which will a prized addition to my warband.  I know she will be closely examined by 'The Resident Readhead', Sarah, who I'm sure will be much impressed. 

This group of ten will give Michael a base of 50 points plus an extra 5 for the 'FlameHair Shield Dottir'. Fabulous work, Michael!

From Curt: 28mm Napoleonic Artillery Casualty Marker (15 points)

Here's another Napoleonic casualty marker I've made up. This one depicts a knocked-out French 12-pounder along with an unfortunate crewman and soldier. I plan to make more of these kind of vignettes to indicate damaged units, or particular spots that have seen hard fighting.

This is a relatively new 28mm resin and white metal set from Offensive Miniatures. The pack includes two separate models, but I cut them up, rearranged them to fit and added a Perry casualty to compose a larger scene.

A sobering scene, to be sure, but one I would assume to be fairly common during that period.

I'm going to give myself 15 points for this one.  Next will be some more markers and finally, perhaps the last of the Normans...

From RayR: 15mm French & Indian Wars Work Party (42 points)

Ray is starting to feel Fran breathing down his neck so in an attempt to open his lead he sends in these fourteen figures depicting an English work party for the F&IW period.

These are 15mm Hallmark figures which can be sourced through Magister Militum in the UK or Noble Miniatures in North America.

These can be used to indicate the building of fortifications, establishing hasty works, digging trenches, etc.

There is some really great animation on these fellows.

This group will give Ray 42 points. The spread between him and Fran is still under 100 points so its still a very tight race!

From Curt: 28mm Napoleonic French Cuirassier Unit / Casualty Stand & French Aide-de-Camp (20 points)

A few months ago I began to play around with developing unit / casualty stands for my Napoleonic collection. I wanted something that could pack as much information into one spot and would still look okay on the tabletop. 

I came up with a concept based around a 50mm circular base that would incorporate a 'fin' to mount a unit name card, a couple 'sockets' for 7mm dice to track a unit's status and enough room leftover to make a small vignette with a couple figures.

These have worked out pretty well with the only interm change being that I've added an third dice 'socket'.  (In our 'Food for Powder' rules the dice help track the status of 'Fatigue', 'Friction' and 'Esprit de Corps' - basically hit points). I'm in the midst of making enough for all twelve of my current French infantry battalions and so thought I should do-up a few for my cavalry as well.

Ever since I first saw the 28mm Perry cuirassier casualty set a few years ago I have been keen to work on them. Its funny as I don't even have a cuirassier unit yet, but I couldn't resist using one of the figures as the basis of a unit stand. I've painted him as a trooper of the 3rd Cuirassiers, who served with the 12th and the Carabiniers in Nansouty's Division at Aspern-Essling and Wagram where they saw some pretty hard action.

The second figure is a Perry Miniatures French Aide-de-Camp madly galloping to issue orders to an awaiting brigade.  In our rules these ADC figures carry 'impetus' dice from higher level commanders down to their subordinates to facilitate more complex brigade orders. They also can carry 'Friction' dice if the ADC is serving a particularly incompetent commander - thereby chaos can ensue from botched/misinterpreted orders.

These two lads will give me another 20 points. I can see a depressing theme here... 

Next will be more of these unit stands and the last of my Normans for SAGA.

From Curt: 28mm Jomsvikings 'The Bloodshields' (20 points)

I've done these four fellows up to represent a small mercenary band of Jomsvikings for SAGA.

The Jomsvikings were legendary and infamous swords-for-hire who were active during the 10th and 11th centuries. They were reportedly very disciplined, staunchly pagan and would sell themselves to any who could afford their exorbitant fees. They also had a nasty propensity to change sides - even in the midst of battle. 

These are 28mm Gripping Beast castings. I did some slight modifications in having one of the mercenaries being armed with two spears and I replaced the small axe on the leader with one that has a longer haft and a larger axehead.

I painted all four in a similar colour scheme and inked their shields to represent the Jomsvikings splashing them with animal blood to unsettle their opponents. The leader's shield design is by LBMS.

I like how the design of their clothes and shields are varied and somewhat exotic - giving the impression that some of them may have travelled quite extensively, perhaps to Russia, Italy, Constantinople or even the Levant.

In SAGA they have some very fun rules in which a player can purchase a Jomsviking warparty for use in your overall force. They are quite nasty in combat, but be warned, they do have a chance to betray their employer and change sides!

These four hard nuts will nudge me along for 20 points. Next up will be some Napoleonic unit markers...