During the period my army is based on, a considerable number of mercenary contingents were employed. Among these, the Varanginan Guard armed with their two hand axes and rhompnaia stand out the most. I just had to include a unit of these troops. Being stubborn with a toughness and weapon skill of 4 equates into a unit that can give beating, take a beating and still be around at the end of the game.
Above, the second & fourth figures from the left are both made by Essex. The rest are Old Glory. The OG miniatures come with a really basic, flat round shield. I'm not sure if the Varangians carried such a standard but I figured that if they put pictures of ravens on their shields they'd give their standard the same treatment.
| The Essex
miniature on the left has a shield design that I copied
from figure 25, page 76 in Armies of the Dark Ages
by Ian Heath. I spiced the OG shields by painting a black
raven on each shield to match their battle standard. The Essex and Old Glory figures mix well. The Essex range has only 2 poses, the OG has 5. |
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