Seljuk Emir done (kind of)

Apart from a couple of minor issues that a larger than 1:1 photo made blatantly obvious, these figures are now done and set the tone for what I want the rest of the army to look like:

Banner is in the Abassid fashion (plain black) accented with the Seljuk colours (blue) and with the Seljuk double-headed eagle in the reverse side. Carpet is based in the Konya patterns that originated in the Anatolian Seljuks.

I kept the pallete short to make the blues and reds stand out. I couldn´t resist painting up the "fruit" on the arab servant´s platter as Ferrero Rocher :) Plate itself in blue and white pottery, from China through the Silk Road.

I am not very familiar with desert basing and tried Sandy Paste - worked very nice. I accented that with some Basecrafts pebbles and dry grass tufts.

Now I will leave the Seljuks alone for quite some time as (happily) I have a good pipeline of commission work to finish.

SAGA Rûm Seljuk Turk Project.

Been a bit slow on here lately, but for perfectly good reasons - I´ve been playing and researching more than painting, and this is mainly a painting blog, so no finished product to post here.

However, I can post up the framework of my SAGA Crusades project, to give some context for miniature posts to follow (which will be mainly in the Seljuk Turk theme).

 I´m constantly finding excuses to get into yet another Perry range, and I found a good one now :) As I mentioned in previous posts, I wanted to take advantage of a finished SAGA Norman host to make the jump to the Middle East and the 1st Crusade.

I knew the miniature range I wanted (Perry 1st Crusade Muslim Army - Perry Crusades - Muslim) but I knew little of the details and generally had a Hollywood like preconception about the crusades (Arabs with turbants and scimitars).

The more I read the more interesting and complex it became - there were Egyptian Fatimids that corresponded more to the Hollywood Muslim warriors, Bedouin tribes, Turcoman horse-archers, Armenian bare chested and bare-headed ghazis - a large selection indeed (and, very importantly, all covered by the Perry Range). So, where to start?

Ferrero Rocher Sultan. I´ll start with the Ferrero Rocher Sultan

Quick historical note - The Rûm Seljuk Sultanate:

Pope Urban II

 The 1st Crusade spawns from a call for aid by the Byzantine Emperor - Alexius I- to Pope Urban II - the Seljuk Turks had taken Anatolia in 1070s and where menacing the existence of the Eastern Roman Empire itself. Urban II answers de call (about 20 years later). Objective one, help Byzantium - objective two - take Jerusalem back into Christian hands.
After defeating the Byzantines at Manzikert in 1071, one of the commanders (Suleiman ibn Qutulmish) promptly declared Anatolia a Seljuk Sultanate, the Rûm Seljuk Sultante - independent from the Great Seljuk Empire.
The word Rûm originates from the word Rome - because Anatolia was "Roman" (Byzantine) land to the Islamic people.

Malik Shah

Malik Shah, the Sultan of the Great Seljuks was not happy about the loss of Anatolia - the Rûm Sultan Suleyman would eventually lose his life in Antioch in 1086 at the hands of Tutush I (Syrian Seljuk Governor, a vassal of Malik, effectivelly dissolving the young Rûm Sultanate.

Suleyman´s son (Kilij Arslan I- literally, Sabre Tiger I) would be taken hostage until Malik Shah´s death in 1092 (a mere 4 years before the crusade).

Upon Malik Shah´s death, Kilij promptly takes command of a Turk tribe (the Oghuz Yiva) and heads "home" to Nicea in Anatolia, reinstating the Rûm Sultanate.

 The death of the charismatic Great Seljuk Sultan Malik Shah left the Great Empire shattered.

Ladies, meet Kilij Arslan I - Mr. Sabre Tiger himself

A melting pot of tribes and emirates where the Byzantines dropped more than a little intrigue to keep the beneficial turmoil brewing. In this landscape, the Rûm Seljuk Turks are one of the largest organized field armies (some 10,000 strong) and the first enemy to be encountered, immediately at Byzantium´s southern border.

The Rûm Sultanate sitmap in the 1090s

The SAGA adaptation

The Rûm Seljuks presented some challenges in their adaptation to SAGA.

The largest one was that the army was almost exclusively made up of horse archers, something that is almost absent in the dark ages and therefore not very present in SAGA.

I worried that it would be too powerful on the table, but I couldn´t do it using levies (the elite of the Seljuk Turks where in fact armoured horse archers - the ghulam).

Ghulam on foot. Definitely not a SAGA levy.

The other challenge was balancing the board to give me the feeling of the army, that deployed a multitude of Turcoman tribal horse archers to harass and pepper the enemy, feigning charges and running while shooting, etc (small anecdote: only Turks who could shoot both forward AND back where allowed to don 2 white hawk feathers - this is a tradition dating back to their far eastern origins).

When the Sultan deemed that the opponent was disorganized or wrong footed, the Ghulam Askari body guards would charge, ending the battle. What I ended up doing (and it survived one playtest already) was reduce effective range of bow on horseback to M.

Also, to represent the multipurpose nature of Ghulams I allow them to take the bow on horseback without dropping 1 in armour (other mounted penalties apply).

 I then had the boon of the Arab Conquest battle board on Wargames Illustrated #300 and made a slight adaptation of Arab Stallions to allow a shoot and move tactic (called Manzikert in the board bellow). Turned out pretty well. Some further board tweaks will bring it closer to what I want (fatigue points on enemy via shooting to represent the disruption of the enemy line by horse archers and some evasion reaction to charges - both these board mechanics are already present on pre-existing battleboards, which leaves me confident in the balance. Haven´t tweaked the board yet, so it looks like this now:



Also, rumour has it that Wargames Illustrated #301 will have a Byzantine battle board... :)

This means I get to see how they tackle the mounted archers question and also defines what the next natural project will be...

More Perry Clergy for Normans/1st Crusade

Another 4 done, Peter the Hermit on a Donkey, Praise de Lord Priest, a bishop and Bad Back priest.

Only a couple of miniatures left before I can call this project closed and move on to the Muslim side of the 1st Crusade. I´ve kept those tantalizing Perry black boxes securely closed lest I stray from the path and leave (yet another) project 99% done.

Perry Clergy - first batch of 5

First 5 clergymen done, another 5 to go.

These are from the excellent Perry Crusades range. Must collect them all! :)

Over the next days I think I´ll be able to tackle the additional clergy figures (with the occasional ox thrown in the schedule).

New arrivals for my Normans

Some new additions to my SAGA Normans have arrived in the shape of some Perry black boxes. Love these boxes (a friend of mine says they look like jewel boxes, and that they are).

Having most of what I need for the army itself, these new arrivals are mainly for flavor (there´s a mission where you have to escort "something" out of the table, and these will fill that role nicely).

Pictures are the ones from the Perry website as mine are all still somewhere between the shiny metal and the brown undercoat stage.

Some clergy command figures from the Crusades range (Perry code CU18):

Some assorted monks and priests from the same range (Perry code CU28):

Some Oxen from the Perry WOTR range (code WR2026) - I´ll only use the Oxen to give some colour to my scenery.

In the same order I also got the first pieces of my next project. 1st Crusade Muslims. The Perry range is excellent and at last I gave in and bought 3 codes to get me started (these will be confined to their little black jewel boxes until I finish my Normans, lest I get sidetracked, which I would...)

The way I found to justify (to myself...) the absolute need of getting some Muslims is that the Normans are only a short step away (or none at all) from Crusaders in the 1st Crusade, and I would need some antagonists.

More on these Muslims once the Normans are done.

1st SAGA game ever - Normans vs. Vikings

Everything was silent in the small farmstead of Aix-les-Couchons, a couple of miles from Normady´s shore (as represented by a "Seaside" box). It was Saturday and all the fields were empty (there was a Petanque match between Rouen and Bayeux for the Nationals). The small garrison (4 points) of the watchtower overlooking the fields watched over the peaceful landscape as the Petanque results came in via signal fires of another tower on the horizon.

Initial setup (we used the great terrain placement rules on SAGA)

The silence was broken by the clash of metal on metal - a Viking raiding party was coming in from the North!

Disposition of about 80% of the Viking warband, with Levies at the left, warlord and warriors on the center and hearthguard at their right

It looked like the new advertising campaign from the Normandy Tourism Board was not that brilliant after all ("Normandy - come for the fabulously wealthy churches, stay for the pork delicacies!")

Mmmmm... Pigs!

The commander of the Norman garrison reacts quickly and spurs up his men: "They can have our women, but they will never take our pigs! Erm.. Whoever shares this with anyone will lose his croissant rations for the week! At them!"

Norman Cavalry ready to storm to the Viking Lines

Without warning (and wishing to get it done over quick to find out the Petanque scores) the Norman cavalry rushes to the Viking raiding party, taking advantage of the fact that the Viking warlord was busy going through a recipe book for pig on a spit.

Normans midway through their charge. We use sheep and ducks as fatigue markers.

In a blink of an eye the Normans clash with the Viking levies, yet to get an arrow off at the Knights (it was the 1st turn, after all):

Mismatched fight - Norman Warlord and 8 Norman Hearthguard clash into Viking levies.

Slaying all but two of them, who ran back to the protection of the Viking lines, where the Viking Warlod Ikea Allenkeysson smiled as he stroked his heavy axe (which he had assembled himself, without reading the instructions!)

Normans lose 1 Knight for 10 levies but are now exposed to a counterattack by the Vikings

The precipitation of the Normans was exactly what the experienced Viking Chieftain had expected. At the exchange of some lowly levies the Normans now stood exactly where he wanted them! He lifted his heavy ax and the viking warriors rushed the already fatigued (2 markers for all the running and fighting) Norman Knights.

Norman Hearthguard & Warlord are charged by Viking Warlord & Warriors. The Fatigue accumulated by the Normans would be decisive for the outcome.

Heavy casualties are taken by both sides in a desperate fight and for brief moments it looks like the Normans can yet snatch victory from the jaws of defeat, but at the end the Norman Garrison commander looks around and all his Knights have fallen.

The Norman Warlord with 1 fatigue marker is left standing alone against 4 warriors and the Viking Warlord. His fate was sealed.

"Any last wished dog?" bellows out Ikea Allenkeysson. "I want to die with honour." the Norman cooly answers. "And with my favourite cow, Margery. I want to die with my Margery."
The Norman had fought well and bravely and his wish was granted.

Cow marker is Margery, the poor thing.

The rest of the Norman host dispersed, the pigs left at the mercy of the Vikings. The Dux had to be warned of the invasion - the day would be avenged! (Actually it wasn´t - we did another quick fight which was much more balanced but the Vikings prevailed again.)

Norman Watchtower

Norman Watchtower I did over this week, practically done. Will add a balcony and stairs and some shields for colour. Next I´ll try to tackle a palisade that I can use separately or prop the tower in the middle to do a smalish keep.

SAGAing my way out of painter´s block.

It´s been a long time since my last update - mostly because I was in a painting slump caused by too much work. A 3 week vacation solved that problem and I dove head first into the Dark Ages, getting on the SAGA bandwagon with my Normans :)

I pretty much had all the figures I needed, most of which were already painted, which is helpful in getting out of a painter´s block (having to do some 30-40 miniatures from scratch would probably have been too daunting a prospect).

All I had to do was rebase my Basic Impetvs Norman Army, which was based with multiple miniatures per base. I will later procure some movement trays so that I can still use the miniatures to play in Basic Impetvs, which is a simple & fun game.

All figures tallied I could field 6 points of SAGA with only some minor purchases.

My initial band will be:
1x William the Conqueror/Bastard - mounted Warlord, 1 point
3x Mounted Knights Hearthguard (will probably be fielded as 2x6 knights) - 3 points
1x Sargents (Foot Warriors) - 1 point
1x Crossbowmen (Foot Warriors w/ Crossbow) - 1 point

All this miniatures I do have - I still have 6x bowmen waiting for another 1/2 dozen to complete a levy unit, but they can still be fielded as a 4 man bow armed hearthguard taking advantage of some of William´s special rules, so it does give some options (I could field the mounted Knights as 8+4 and free up 1 point to slot these bowmen in as is).

I also procured a slightly anachronistic Perry Thatched house (actually for the 1300s onwards, but it works fine for a bit earlier, at least to my eye).

So here are some shots of the Normans so far:

My mounted Warlord, taking advantage of the maximum allowed base size to be accompanied by a musician, a pious crucifix bearing knight and a banner bearer (banner done as if a piece of bayeux-like tapestry was used).

Some mounted Knights - the core of any Norman band.

A general view of the work so far. The 4 knights to the left of the command base are what´s left on the paint queue.

A closeup shot of some foot Knights with the crossbowmen in the foreground.

A shot of the bowmen, standing behind the foot Knights.

Some more foot knights.

The Perry house, complete with wattle fence and pigs.

More on this project very soon.