Happy New Year 2025/2026

 Happy New Year. Somehow, it is now 2026. Linear time continues to surprise me.

 But I got quite a lot of done throughout the year (even if it didn't all end up here on the blog, the disadvantage of doing many smaller things). The total numbers:

• 293 Human Infantry-sized (incl. 1 Cannon & Crew, counting as 4)
• 30 Cavalry/Ogre (or equivalent)
• 3 Bigger beasties (at least 60mm round base)
• 9 Objectives
• 9 15mm tanks/AFVs

Not bad at all. Almost managed to hit 365 minis, aka a mini a day (somewhere in November, that looked quite possible, but then there came some slower projects). The absolute majority of these were in one way or another intended for SAGA, and other than the 9 tanks, all in 28mm. I had plans to branch out to smaller scales, but that obviously didn't happen. My massive pile of Epic Hail Caesar still lies untouched...

But what did I get finished, then? 

Beginning with the biggest: my Normans

These were a huge undertaking (mostly painted in 2024), and was a relief to get done (and to a quality that I am satisfied with). I then had the joy to bring them to my first international tournament in SAGA: The World Cup! A Team tournament, and my team was mostly there because Sweden needed some representation, and the A-team were busy organising the whole thing. Still, I did my part and we didn't end up last. We'll see if it happens again...

There were then the matter of the Undead horde. They began more or less by accident, but got finished over the summer (again, a significant part were painted earlier than 2025). Quite fun to paint (and very relaxing, a lot can be accomplished with washes, and gore hides the mistakes), especially the big dragon. Still, they haven't seen a game yet, so I guess I need to get to that in 2026

Last major SAGA army: the Irish. As expected, they were very fast to paint, especially as I nailed down my Speedpaint technique with these (and did a guide for it). They also got to see the table, and got to melt some opposition (reminding me that they are not a suitable opposition for someone playing their second game of SAGA... oops)

 There were also the barbarians I finished early in the year, for Frostgrave. However, that game has been quite calm since, so they remain in their box.

What else has been painted? Well...

There were some Texas Rangers, for Dead Mans Hand (that we play pretty much every summer, letting me have my own minis for it for the first time). And I just had to make them in two versions, both mounted and on foot (it even got relevant in the game, that I could mount up them!)

And also some uniformed Cavalry (amusingly enough, on foot), for the same. These are recently finished, so haven't had a game yet. Also, very old sculpts, and new plastic replacements arrived a few days ago... we'll see which ones get to see the table.

 

Also, I did mention some tiny tanks and AFVs. We'll see when I get around to doing the rest of the company...

And also a variety of smaller stuff and one-offs (incidentally, the collection of Lizardmen is starting to get up in size...)

And finally, I made what was, in hindsight, possibly a bad idea. I painted some samurai (from the ever loveable Bad Squiddo Games). Because I had an itch, and thought this would take care of that itch...

It did quite literally the opposite. So now I have a "samurai" army, that is rapidly expanding in scope to two, or possibly 3-4. With an initial idea to run these as counts-as SAGA: Age of Chivalry (several of the factions there could do quite well as various samurai clans). But it also got me looking into Test of Honour, and oh dear. At least it's a "true" skirmish ruleset, where you don't need too many minis. So we all know how that will end...

But what about 2026? 

I think my my  main goal for the year, will be to paint at least 6 "big things". Be it dragons, buildings, ships, mechs, or whatever comes in front of me. I have a fair amount of buildings that need to be assembled and painted, as well as several Blood & Plunder ships (no, I am not giving up hope about that game). And we'll see what else happens. I doubt I'll reach that 1 mini/day, since the big things will still only count as 1, as they say. I currently have 6 projects that are in focus, hopefully I manage to remain focused on those:

• Teutonic Order (possibly my most ambitious yet, in regards to already planned parts)
• French (I should be able to finish them relatively soon, I think... but I've said that before)
• The Samurai (I only count them as 1, but they could probably count for at least 2...)
•  Saxons (should be small and simple, even if I expand them into "generic Germanics" as it rolls along)
• Knights Templar (another small one, since they're an elite army... even if I consider doing some advanced basing on them)
• Arabs (I have big plans for them, but the immediate goal is a small 6 point warband for SAGA, with very few options... we'll see how that ends up going)

Then there will of course continue to be the various small stuff and cool minis I just had to paint... But that should be the gist of it.

Once again, Happy New Year

/Fool  

Fools way of using Speedpaints

 I have gotten several questions (not to mention expressions of amazement) over the results I get from mainly painting with Army Painter Speedpaints, so I thought a short (ish) tutorial of how I do it might be of interest. And since I just painted a batch of Irish with this method...

First step is quite simple: assemble the mini, put it on a base (optionally: cover up the "puddle" with some wall filler), and prime it all white

I tend to refer to this as a "pre-shade". Basically, but a dark brown wash over the entire miniature (althought not necessarily the base). In this case, I used Games Workshop Agrax Earthshade, but Army Painter Strong Tone should give close enough to exactly the same result.

Grab a drybrysh, and drybrush white all over, to enhance contours and lines, and provide some shading once the speedpaint goes over it.

Last step before Speedpaint, paint the base a suitable color (in this case, dark brown)

Now we're onto the Speedpaints. Starting from the inside and going out, skin is first (incidentally, this is Army Painter Crusader Skin, which doesn't look nearly as good over a straight white primer, but with my pre-shade, it looks just right).

Next layer up, his pants and cloak (Irish are thankful in this way, very few layers of clothes). If there were more layers, just keep going from the innermost layer visible and outwards. Since it's Speedpaints, errors are hard to correct, so make sure to keep the belt and other leather details clean

And then, those leather details, in a mix of various browns (Army Painter Hardened Leather, in this case), even if it can be hard to tell).

Last Speedpaints, the hair on the mini (or beard, in this case). If I may offer a few tips, Pallid Bone makes for good blond hair, and Hardened Leather is surprisingly good for redheads. Other than that, the usual mix of browns (try not to overlap too much with their leathers), and Grim Black.

The one thing I find Speedpaints a bit weaker for, is steel, specifically steel sheets (such as swords, axes, shield bosses, and breastplates). So here, I am back to an old method, and "normal" paints. Vallejo Air offers excellent coverage with just one layer.

Once the steel is painted, it is time to glue on the shield (that's been painted separately for ease of access).

With the shield on, the mini is almost finished, and it is time to start the basing. For these, I'm going with a texture paste (Vallejo Dark Earth), straight over the "ground".

Once the texture paste is completely dry, it is time for another wash, just over metal bits and said texture paste (for some extra contrast on the ground).

Once again, wait for it to be completely dry (I usually leave it over night), then grab the drybrush and go over the ground, as well as the lower part of the shield, and possibly the legs as well, with a good, dusty beige (I swear by Army Painter Skeleton Bone for this, but most similar-ish colour should be good).

The last painting step is to just paint the base rim a suitable colour. I usually go with a discrete black, but everyone has their preferred way of doing it, from discrete to garish

To finish the mini off, glue on some static grass and/or tufts.

 And with that, he is done. I can usually punch through 12 of these in about a week, doing 1 or 2 paints a night (ideally, with the speedpaints going on over the weekend, since they dry "enough" fairly rapidly). Brush control is important, since it can be tricky to reverse spills, but once you've got that, it is a very rapid way of getting an army table ready.

Hope you found it useful

/Fool, Out 

SAGA Irish for Age of Vikings

 A small project that, for once, stayed small. It helps that there's pretty much one way to run Irish, with most variations purely lessening their power (which, mind you, isn't necessarily bad, since the Irish can be quite strong). 

It began as an idea when Wargames Atlantic released their plastic Irish. I just took some time getting around to it... (and now Vitrix have teased their own...)

The fact that Irish have a limited palette, and very few clothes, too, do mean that it was a quick warband to paint up, too. The initial kick to get going, assemble and paint all the minis I had, was delivered in May. And had I focused on painting just the Irish (and not jumping between projects as is my wont), I'd have them finished in July at the latest, more likely within a single month (four batches of 12-13, and about a week for each batch)

For SAGA, Levies are the go-to. As things stand now, slings are preferable, but this is the one area I see myself maybe expanding, with some Levy armed with javelins. Also, I had to do some kitbashing here, with several of the slings being from the bits-box, since the WGA kit is a bit low on slings

The warriors are also armed with javelins (even if some of them are well hidden). As peasants, they were mostly limited to natural colors (greys, whites, and blacks), but were also allowed yellow... as I said, a limited palette, and very quick to paint.

And then there's the dogs. One of those "less good" options, but very easy to paint, so I see no reason to not have them ready to use.

The Irish stand out a bit in that they not only have their King (Warlord, in SAGA terms), but also Curaidh (champions and lieutenants). They were the one thing missing from the WGA kit (at least if one wants them in armour), but Victrix Late Romans provided some very useful bodies, especially when kitbashed with some viking bits, and also cloaks from the WGA Irish. 

Finally, there was a golden opportunity for some special objectives, with classic celtic crosses. Good thing I have a friend with a laser cutter and plenty of 3mm MDF (and enough skill to design these for me).

All in all, that is a nice little warband, that will be interesting to field (and not just encounter on the opposite side), that also has helped me figure out how to best utilise Army Painter Speedpaints (a separate guide for that will be coming soon)

/Fool, Out 

Undead Horde for SAGA (and what else may appear)

 This began as a bit of almost-mistake. A long time ago, I painted some rangers, soldiers, and peasants for Rangers of Shadow Deep, and they of course needed some enemies to fight. So I got some Fireforge Living Dead... and to my dread found them fun to paint. 

Then I needed to paint some objectives for a painting challenge, and had some MDF graves lying around...

Next thing I know, I'm making plans for ALL the zombies (and finally found a use for that necromancer I had lying around). Oops?

The plan is to run them for SAGA: Age of Magic, but they can of course be used anywhere and everywhere a bunch of zombies on round bases can be used (and with base adapters, I have even more options).

Where it all started, with some dead peasants that didn't lie down (and then, somehow, there were more dead peasants refusing to lie down... as well as some worn down soldiers). It helps that Undead levies in SAGA: AoM comes in packs of 20 (then fireforge sell their peasant zombies in packs of 18...)

And then there were the graves. Simple extra additions to a Frostgrave Mausoleum, but put them on a round base, and they make excellent low-profile SAGA objectives.

Of course, if doing a real undead horde, one might want some heavier zombies, that may still remember how to swing a blade, and not just drown you in numbers (I said just drown you in numbers, these still do some of that). 

As an adaptation for saga, I needed some zombie archers as well (even if most undead seem to not favour ranged weapons). It was a bit of kitbash, but the end result is quite nice. And it gave me a good opportunity to mess up some models.

All the various soldiers are a mix of local and not-so-local warbands, so if one wants a closer look at each provider (it is very nice of Fireforge to make their zombies in a mix of armours, giving a natural variation) 

I am especially proud of the fellows with purple and yellow shields. I imagine that they are what remains of a mercenary company famous for their "golden" armour... that is now all verdigris, as it was apparently more brass than gold. 

There are a few undead that seem to have known what they were up for, even before they died. They form to hearthguard knights of the warband. And the rust makes them look absolutely badass. It is no idea to run, you'll just die tired...

An alternative to knights as Shock Troops, would be some strange spiders found deep in the darkest forests. Their poison seem to have natural reanimating properties, and they're surprisingly willing to follow strong necromancers... (these are also a remnant from the start of this as Rangers of Shadow Deep, since necromantic spiders are a foe there in some missions)

Then there is, of course, the driving Characters (can't really call them heroes...) of it all. 

The Necromancer (and his raised doggo) responsible for it all (Warlord in SAGA terms, since Undead do have the option of a spellcaster warlord for obvious reasons). It is a bit uncertain if he's still alive, or if he's immersed himself in necromancy to the point of being technically undead himself... 

His Apprentice (a Sorcerer in SAGA terms, for when I need twice the magic... and just a cool model). Very pale, but probably still alive. Very loyal to his master, and it might not even be magic control.

And the Black Knight, an old (dead) nobleman, raised and kept control as the Necromancers lieutenant, in both Mounted and on Foot versions. Somehow, this character told me his entire life story as I painted him (aside from his name, but I know he had a Bar Sinister in silver over black as his heraldry). How he murdered his own half-brother, because he was better suited to rule, and how it was only right and proper that he then try to conquer the world, as he had the power, the will, and the right, noble blood. He also ranted a fair bit about the heroes that put him in his grave, but somehow just because they had the power and will to defeat him, it didn't make it right... and now his blood is all gone, and the Necromancer keeps him very strictly bound to prevent backstabbing (or frontstabbing, or sidestabbing... the Black Knigth isn't particular how he stabs to gain power).

 And then I got to paint a dragon. Slight wear and tear, as with most of the force, but for a dragon, death isn't really that much of a stop. Or possibly, the Necromancer has just pumped the corpse full of necromantic energy, as he is wont to do.

Now I just need to figure out how to transport them all (the dragon is really the tricky part, that fellow is HUGE). And somehow, I still don't have everything I need for that Rangers of Shadow Deep scenario...

/Fool Out