Follow the Hird

Things are progressing well on a number of painting fronts, with another Swiss pike block, the first half of an Irish SAGA warband and a few bits and bobs ready for photographing, posting and, hopefully, some actual use!

But it is high time I finished showing the Vikings. You've had the crud, you've had the Jarls and now you can have the Hird. All of them are plastic figures built from the Gripping Beast Hirdmen box, built pretty much as nature intended, i.e. no conversions.

Only the various warriors to feature now. And the standards. And the odd boat or two...

Is there anyone else out there who never knows when to finish a project???

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This is the entire Hird banded together in a dozen, looking like a unit. I still struggle with four figures making a unit in SAGA terms (and, indeed, in Donnybrook also if you choose an elite unit). It is the age-old dilemma between grouping them for aesthetics and some staying power or keeping them in fours and having all that flexibility...

Patterned clothing was a Viking thing, if only a hemline decoration, so most feature some sort of pattern on tunic, breeches or both.

Throughout the entire force, I have tried to choose different parts from the box to make different looking figures. I still have various options to cover.

The three fours, as it were. I have kept the shield designs simple for a couple of reasons. Firstly, I think their simplicity actually helps them stand out better on the table and secondly I think that is how they would have been historically! No two will ever be the same, however, regardless of how many Vikings I end up painting.