Levy Bowmen for SAGA

Painted up some Wargames Factory Numidian Light Infantry as Levy Bowmen for a SAGA Viking Warband. They are pretty much as is from the box, except for the composite bows being straightened and shortened a bit. Most of the bare legs and arms were painted like they had long sleeves and trousers. I had used the other 12 figures as generic Ancient javelin men, and these can be used as generic Dark Age/Medieval bowmen. After a second, and very entertaining, SAGA game this past Saturday, I decided my Viking Warband needed bowmen that looked more the part of levies. I had used mail-clad Norman Bowmen that looked too "Warrior"-like.

Here are the 12 Levy bowmen out in front of the Warlord (w/uncounted musician), a unit of 8 Hearthguard, and two units of 8 Warriors. My buddy is giving me four Beserkers to round out a 6 point Warband. The two-handed axemen are Crusader figures that I've used for a WAB Norman army in the past.

Although I've only played two games of SAGA, I enjoy the rules and find the Battle Board system an ingenious way add a lot of variety to Warband factions. So much so, that my Norman opponent, luckily for me, forgot many of his special rules. My Vikings still got hammered, but it was a lot of fun. I'm looking forward to more SAGA games in the near future.

Here are the bowmen prior to Minwax staining and highlighting. Using the Minwax process, the initial painting is reminiscent of how I painted 1/72nd plastics in days gone by - and fun days they were!

Viking Warlord and Dragon Ship Helmsman

This is a Crusader Miniatures figure from the Harold Godwinson set - he'll serve as a Viking warlord for the Dragon Ship, as well as for SAGA. Yes, I've been a bit taken with these rules along with many of the local crew here in Washington State.

This is the helmsman that came with the Old Glory Viking Ship set. I may add a pin to one of his feet and attach him permanently to the ship - currently he's on a washer.

Here are some close ups of the sail assembly that was scratch-built using a wooden dowel, bamboo stick, cloth and some thread.

Speaking of SAGA, we're having another go at it next weekend. I plan to use some of my existing figures from a Norman army for a Viking warband. The figures are actually Crusader Miniatures Saxons, but they will double as Vikings.

ADDENDUM:
Added a few more photos with the ship based - now all I need to get is more ships and a game mat with 1.5 foot hexes.

Old Glory Viking Dragon Ship - Completed

Fashioned a mast out of a 1/4" dowel from Michael's; used a piece of bamboo stick for the crossbeam and a piece of cloth soaked with white glue for the sail.

The flash from the camera kind of washes out some of the colors - the red stripes on the sail are a bit darker in natural light.

I'm not a navy man so not sure how the sail would actually be rigged, but I used thread to tie the sail to the crossbeam. Thread was also used to cinch up the sail; the red strips were painted on prior to rolling it up.

Not sure if you can tell in the photos, but the oars don't line up with the rowers' hands that well, but they look okay overall though.

I'll try to take some more photos when the lighting is better - also need to add the helmsman and leader too.

Old Glory Viking Ship - WIP +1

Here are the rowing crew. Again, a stain of Minwax Tudor Satin over a block paint job - Testors Dullcote'd too.

I may add highlights to the clothing, but I wanted to show the results of just the stain and basic painting.

The crew were painted with basic colors already attached to their seats.

After staining and Dullcote.

Next up are the helmsman and leader, as well fabricating a mast and furled sail.

Old Glory Viking Dragon Ship - WIP

Here is a resin model that has been sitting in a box for several years now. It was ordered way back when, when I had an Old Glory Army membership. Anyway, it's one of those things you just have to get when you have the chance. It is a really nice model and figured I'd get it painted. Here it is Dullcote'd after a Minwax Tudor Satin stain over a basic finish.

The shields are basic patterns using only five colors: red, blue, green, white and yellow.

Prior to the stain, the ship itself was given two shades of light brown using a mixture of Vallejo Flat Yellow and Cadmium Red. I use those two colors in varying combinations for most wood and leather.

Here is the ship with shields and rowers attached. Since only basic patterns were used for the shields, they were painted after being glued to the ship.

The kit was missing the wooden dowels for the mast, but I should be able to find a replacement.

Perry Choson Korean Cavalry

Here is the cavalry for Changun's army - this unit is comprised of a set each of the Perrys' two-handed swordsmen, flailmen and bowmen. I plan to use them as either bows or flailmen. I know this may be pushing the what you see is what you get rule, but all of them have bows and quivers. One set was missing their bows and quivers, and I'm still waiting for the missing parts to arrive.

 

Plan to add the two earlier completed officers to this unit, as well as adding a standard. This will make it a 12-man unit. The army is now close to 2,000 points, with enough remaining points for another unit of either armored infantry or light cavalry. Perry currently doesn't make cavalry without armor, so this second option may need to wait.

As there are only a few references for Choson Korean cavalry, I took some liberty with the color scheme. Basically gave their armored coats subdued colors and gave some color splash with the horse furniture.

The flail staffs were red according to Turnbull's sources. Also according to Turnbull, Korean cavalry seems to have only appeared in any numbers at the Battle of Chungju. They were decimated by Japanese arquebuses at this battle and not much more is mentioned of their use thereafter.

All of them were block painted with rider and horse as single units and given a Minwax Tudor Satin stain. After a finish of Testors Dullcote some highlighting was added to some of the coats and clothing, as well as the horse furniture. Anyway, I'm happy with the way they turned out and I continued to rely heavily on Minwax to get me through this project.

Perry Choson Korean Cav - WIP

These are from the two-handed swordsmen set - after a wash of Minwax Tudor Satin stain and still needing a shot of Testors Dullcote. Prior to moving on, I wanted to show the effectiveness of the staining process; particularly the black-lining and shading.

This set is unusual in that the riders and mounts are cast as single units. I normally paint the riders and horses separately, so this was a sort of experiment. I sprayed them with a white undercoat and then block-painted them before the Minwax stain. They're missing their bows and quivers - they were missing from the order, but are being sent.

Admittedly, they look pretty rough prior to the staining. After Dullcoting them, some highlighting can be added. They didn't come out too bad, so now I plan to paint the other cavalry as single models - although the spearmen and bowmen are separately cast. I wonder why the Perrys made this set as one-piece figures.

On the gaming front, I was able to get in a trial game of SAGA this past weekend thanks to several of my gaming buddies who supplied the figures and coached the rules. I am intrigued by the battle board concept and the assignment of die towards it. The fast-play and relatively small number of figures needed is something that makes me want to get back into gaming.

Perry Choson Korean Mounted Commanders

Here are the remaining two commanders from the three-figure set. Again, I'm not sure who is supposed to be who, but the Perrys list the set as containing Kwon Yul, Cho Hon and Yi Pok-nam. Earlier I painted one up as Kwon Yul to be the Army General. These two will be part of the heavy cavalry unit - as a noble and the unit leader.

The armor is similar to what the Chinese wore - heavy coats with either scale or brigandine reinforcements. The helmets are also similar to Chinese ones - iron bowls with hanging neck protection. Much more standardized than what the samurai wore during the same period - particularly the elaborate helmet crests that some samurai added for personal recognition.

The Korean gear looks like it would be more functional for cavalry; the heavy, long coat-like armor would seem to limit movement for infantry.

The poses allow for good ranking up in formation.

Still waiting on an order of Perry Choson cavarly - I ordered a set each of the archers, pole-armed and two-handed swordmen. It would be nice if the Perrys made a set of unarmored archers too - in the white and black costumes with hats.

Perry Choson Korean Mounted Commanders - WIP

Need to add their bows/quivers to them, as well as their mounts, but wanted to post some WIP photos. These two are from the same set as the earlier Kwon Yul figure.

The set of commanders are supposed to represent Kwon Yul, Cho Hon and Yi Pok-Nam - three of the more celebrated and successful Korean commanders during the Imjin War. Other than the way they are listed and arranged in the Perry website photo - there really isn't anything indicating who is who. All of their armor is very similar, as well as the facial features.

The guy above has a golden fan which could be the one that belonged to Kurushima Michiyuki and lost , along with his head, at the Battle of Dangpo.

Perry Choson Korean Hwacha (MLRS)

The two rocket artillery pieces for Changun's army based. The figures themselves are on metal washers and can be removed from magnetic topped stands as casualties if needed.

Here are the stats for Korean rocket artillery from the Imjin War WAB list posted on the WAB Forum: "A rocket launcher has a range of 30”. When successful in To Hit, the RL inflicts 2D6 S4 Hits on the target unit at short range and S3 at long range. A RL requires at least 2 crewmen to move or fire every turn, but may not Move and Fire in the same turn. When down to 1 crewman, it may only fire every second turn."

 

The longer and shorter arrows are only aesthetically different for the rules. I will have to do some research to see how they differed in actual battle.

Historically hwacha were used mainly for defense, like at the Siege of Haengju, but I don't see why they can't be used offensively in games.

Here is a period drawing showing a pole used to elevate the firing platform.

However, some sources say they were fired at a 45 degree angle for better range. The Perry kits comes with such a pole, but I chose not to use them.

I'm waiting for some Perry cavalry to add to this army. They are all in armor and Perry doesn't make any unarmored cavalry. I'd like to have a unit of mounted archers that are unarmored. I think Scheltrum makes some, but I don't think they'd mix well with the Perry figures.

Perry Choson Korean Officers

These will be commanders for the two hwacha units. The governor of Pusan, Chong Pal, was known to have worn a set of black armor when the Japanese attacked the port. He is said to have fought bravely before being killed by arquebuse fire

 

Choson Korean armor seems to have been worn mainly by commanders, and appears to be more cumbersome than what the Japanese wore.

Perry Choson Korean Hwacha and Singijeon - WIP

Here is the artillery for Changun's army. Still need to add a commander to each unit, as well as basing the artillery pieces. They are basically the same type of multiple-launch arrow machines called hwacha. The arrows are called singijeon and were an early form of rockets in that they were ignited when launched.

The musician is a spare from a command set, but he could be giving the signal to fire.

The figures and the artillery pieces were block painted and given a wash of Minwax Tudor Satin stain prior to a finish of Dullcote.

The carriage is the same for both types, only the top portion and arrows are different.

Here is a link to a Myth Busters episode on the hwacha. Also, more on fused rocketry from an old History Channel segment.