NORSEMEN: My Viking wargaming approach


The time has come for me to exorcise another of my many (too many) wargaming demons and embark what should be a relatively small scale project. I have long desired to build a modest Viking army: I've been dwelling on this actively for many years. Unlike other as yet unrealized wargaming wishes which I flirt with dangerously, this one has now crossed into the realm of the physical. It is likely madness. This will be a holiday project for when I return to Australia at the end of my mission to Tonga - whenever that will be as I'm trapped here for the time being.
The scale is my usual 28mm passion. I intend to have at least one longship capable of being crewed or beached empty. The army will have four units with supporting skirmishers. I have purchased the Revell 1/50 scale kit. I intend to go for as realistic a representation as our collective understanding of the period allows. I'm quite taken with the Hail Caesar interpretation of the 'dark age' period rules but will step back to the previous Warhammer Ancient Battles set and take elements of their imaginative and inspiring Shieldwall supplement to translate the Commanders of Hail Caesar into WAB Characters.
TROOP TYPES
I will be using two combined units of Hirdmen with Bondir which Hail Caesar provides for except for my unit of Viking mercenaries. I also love their much toned down Berserker rule - more toned down than the super-hero, suicide bomber variant in WAB. I will have a unit of Huscarls, a unit of skirmishing Thralls (slaves) and one of Bondir archers. All up, less than 150 figures.
Dr jóhanna katrín friðriksdóttir is a leading academic on the subject of Norse history with a recent emphasis on 'Viking' women. I confess to not having read her book but have listened to her being interviewed on the History Extra podcast on her research and book. Whilst not able to completely discount the possibility, the good Doctor finds little evidence to support 'shield maidens', so I will not be entertaining them in my collection.They are as real and valid as King Arthur - a persistent fiction.
ARMY STANDARD
One piece of research which I find compelling is the work done by Jan Engstrom and Panu Nykanen - New Interpretations of Viking Age Weathervanes (published in Forn Vannen Journal of Sweedish Antiquarian Research 1996). From their findings I will be making intricate foil miniatures of beaten copper weather-vanes in lieu of the typical (habitual) cloth banners wargamers always have for their army standards.
Most of those Raven banners I see amongst miniature viking armies exactly replicate the design and shape of the longship weather-vanes. I'm inclined to believe that the earlier Norse warriors would have leapt from the prow of the leading ship, pulling the weather-vane from it's swivel and carried it into battle. The raiding vikings would have formed up and followed the same emblem on land as they followed across the seas. I can't help but feel that such a totemic 'standard' is more in keeping with the style of earlier Viking pagans somehow.
FIGURES
I cannot go much further past Footsore Miniatures as the cornerstone for this collection. I have supplemented them with the V and V Miniatures resin range alongside Gripping Beast, Warlord and Crusader Miniatures. I should end up with a compact force and every one of them individual sculpts.
NOROREYJAR - The Orkneymen
I could change my approach by the time I start modelling them but at present I'm desirous of representing a speculative representation of the Norwegian Thalassocracy (maritime realm) from Orkney, Shetland and the Northern most Hebrides. My chosen commanding warlord will be Thorstein 'the Red' (or Olafsson) who was the principle Chieftan carving out an empire in the Viking campaigns of Sigurd 'The Mighty' (Eysteinsson), Jarl of Orkney. He operated from about 870-90 AD (CE). I will be incorporating a lot of plaids in their costume and modelling extra furs for the figures as it's bloody cold up there! Same goes for the Thralls who for some reason are always depicted as sparingly attired which I reject. They might be slaves but I doubt they were allowed to freeze to death pointlessly. My Viking mercenaries will conform more to standard Norwegian Hirdmen.
UNIT MODELLING
I really don't go for individual figure removal any more or single figure basing. I'm not a fan of movement trays and find them counter-aesthetic. My combined warbands and Viking mercenaries will be based collectively and three deep with Hirdmen in the front ranks with a sprinkling in the rear; the rest Bondir. The mercenaries will have few if any Bondir.
The Huscarls will be based two deep and armed with two-handed axes. I'm making an adjustment to reduce their morale saves because of their lack of shields to off-set their damage advantage (-1 on enemy saves). Most models will have shields (slung across their back) so they may form shieldwall for missile defence only. My skirmishers will be based in my preferred three to a circular base style. The Berserkers will be individually based as will my Godi and Commander Thorstein.

Comments

  1. Sounds good. Have you considered the size of your army and the inclusion of more weather vanes? Surely there was ore that one ship and more than one vane. My ill-informed view is that each Jarl would have his own bondsman and they would fight as a ships company/unit within a broader collection of units that comprise the fighting force.

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    1. I think I'll, have only one standard for this size of army. I need to be mindful that my one model ship represents a squadron. The Hail Caesar rules don't compel standards and musicians and unit leaders in the same way as WAB - very flexible.

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  2. Very cool endeavor. I find the transition from WAB to Hail Caesar not only painless, but somewhat gratifying. The overall mechanics are similar, and I think the order/command rule is more enjoyable than standard IGYG. I also hated individual casualty removal, particularly because I was routinely on the losing end.

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    1. It's funny how I have changed my opinions over time. I used to prefer casualty removal and now, like you I can't abide all that mucking about. I love the command mechanism but may tweak it (for Black Powder also)as once a unit accepts an order it makes no sense to keep re-ordering it in some instances. I think maybe some objective markers might be useful. For this period I also want to draw down that heroic capability that the characters have in WAB for personal combat.

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  3. I bought WAB but never played it - I was DBA oriented but then took to impetus. Now I bought War & Conquest simply because a review said it was a good read - note "a good read". Is WaC out of the same mould as WAB or Hail Ceasar? WaC seems a very flexible gaming approach - expectation is you add your own rules? but I guess being published 2012 its low profile says it was not a hit. Thinking about a dark age project and which rules might be best to use. I use impetus element basing.

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    1. I'm afraid I can't comment Lorenzo. I have no experience with WaC at all. HC is unit oriented rather than figure oriented but has saving throws for armour factors. It has a command movement attention which WAB lacks.

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