From Mike W - 28mm Viking Berserkers (90 Points)

This post utilises a number of figures from the Warlord Games Ancient British plastic set, I originally got these figures as I thought I could convert several of these into Viking Berserkers. This I successfully did a number of years ago - but never got around to finishing the job, which I have now....

The completed group of Viking Berserkers

I have taken the view that the Viking Berserkers would be a group of guys who could not stomach the discipline needed to stand in a shield wall, thus the dynamic poses offered by this set are a good starting point to represent a group of warriors who would charge dead long into the enemy.

A close view of some of them

There are tales of Berserkers going into battle naked with just their weapons in their hands (Ooh Err!) However I have opted for them being largely bare chested & bare headed, with or without a shield or two weapons. No one really wants to see a a lot of meat and two veg on display! 😀

And another angle

As with most of these dark ages figures - I gave them a sprayed on white undercoat which dried quickly with a good finish and my first stop was to paint in all the flesh on show.

All five of the guys with two weapons and no shield

Next up was a variety of muted blues, greens & brown colours for their clothes before adding in appropriate wood, leather & metalwork. Once dry I used a variety of suitable coloured inks to add shading, I then highlighted with base colours again.

The three guys with a spear and a shield

Each figure was then coated with Matt varnish before being based in my usual manner.

Six of eth guys with bare chests!

The final four guys, one with a cloak

POINTS

18 x 28mm Foot Figures  = 90 Points

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Great work on these Berserkers, Mike! Your efforts in giving each of these figures their own characters has really paid off. That fellow in the front with the buff shield looks like Rollo from 'Vikings'.  Well done!

- Curt

Paul O'G Ascends the Snowlord's Peak! (475 Points!)

Followed by his goatlike sherpas, a sweating Paul reaches the plateau and calls out in a loud and mildly intoxicated voice:

"OI! Hear me oh Mighty Snowlord! I approach your mighty kingdom bearing gifts to honour your Majesty"

A mighty voice bellows back from the distance

"Oh Yeah? Go on..."

Paul empties the last dregs from his ale horn before continuing:

"Yes oh Mighty One, thrice you challenged me and thrice I answer the call!

First - your challenge to build a unit for my Mortal Gods collection. May I present a Musician with taste far gentler than my own - with his double barrelled Aulos he can inspire those who fight in your name!

Presenting a Musician who as a seperate unit in Mortal Gods provides buffing bonuses to Phalanx and Light troops alike. More importantly, last year Reilly and I had an amazing tour of ancient Greece together - we had daily competitions to be the first one to find an "Aulos dude" amongst the various friezes and artwork. So this guy is fun for me because of those memories.

-------
A voice from atop the mountain yells down:
"Well thats OK I guess, but not very inspiring and not a skull to be seen - what else have you got?"

Paul opens the next bag:
"Next I bring as thee Commanded - heavily armed beastmen - they do smell a bit gamey mind, but they will fight fiercely for you my Lord!"

Presenting an elite unit of Bestigors - heavily armoured and wielding powerful double-handed weapons.  They promise to chop their opponents to bits before lashing the bloody remnants to the herdstone.  10 Warriors and a Champion to lead them.

The Snowlord declares: "Thats more like it! And a few skulls too I see - how many?"

Paul: "A mere 20 my Lord, but there is more"

Snowlord: "More? This is indeed a bountiful offering - bring forward the last"

Paul: "I have saved the best til last your magnificence. I have slaved hard at the painting bench with these, crafting them to the best of my ability. May I present:

Kharn and the Kharnivores!

This is my new World Eaters Kill Team - long range firepower is not their speciality!

I did a lot of conversions on these boys, to give me all sorts of weapon options - from double chainswords, double chain axes, combos of both and lighting claws

And to lead them the anti-hero: infamous Kharn the Betrayer!

Snowlord: Very nice - and 64 skulls between them too! Whats that they are standing on?

Paul: That is part of my offering of Lord, the Throne of Skulls!

It boasts an impressive 226 skulls. (amusingly, I had just bought this when I ran into Barks at CanCon - it was hard to keep the inner smile from my face knowing I had this secret weapon for our side duel)

To summarise my offerings Lord, it is 23 x 28mm infantry models, one standard terrain cube, points for the map location and I do believe, My Lord, you said something about a skull bonus?

Skull-o-meter Overload: 310 Skulls!!!
(This brings my total skull count to 543 metric noggins!)

I hope that these offerings please and amuse you oh mighty Snowlord, and I await your judgement.

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Haha! This is just brilliant Paul - truly in the spirit of the Snow Lord's Peak Challenge!

My pocketbook had a bit of a twinge when seeing the Greek musician as I think I'm about to fall hard for this Mortal Gods malarkey, and this small chap may just be enough to finally push me over the precipice. 

Those Bestigors (as opposed to the much maligned 'Crappigors') look magnificent in all their choppy, horny, smelly glory. I anticipate many skulls will be harvested from this lot.

Finally, your oh-so-nuanced World Eaters kill team look to be the absolute bomb, erm, absolute axe? absolute Chainsword? Well, you know what I mean. And that Throne of Skulls is completely ridiculous, in a wonderful, gory sort of way. I have a sneaking suspicion that you may have humbugged poor Barks and myself with this whole Skulley McSkullface Challenge. I can only hope he'll be producing something like a Ziggurat of Skulls as a suitable response. :)

Nonetheless, I am a man of my word, so the grand total for this excellent submission, with the noggin-shattering skull bonus, will be a stonking 475 points. Geez! That's one of our larger points bomb on record and blasts you past your personal goal for this year. Methinks that with me at the helm, tossing out points like a drunken sailor, Tamsin can rest a little easier about our overall target...

As to your treasure, Paul, I'm delighted to present you with this plucky pulp adventuress painted by your good mate, the talented AlanD. 

Well done Paul you've done the Peak proud!

-Curt Actual Out

AdamC- Viking Berserkers (20 points)

I've been playing a lot of Saga with John (JohnM here in the challenge) and I picked these guys up last Spring for Huzzah they are 25mm Scale but I have no idea who cast them.  I haven't been playing Vikings as I really like the Norse-Gaels but sometimes you want to switch it up.

Four figures equals 1 Point for Saga Berserkers so these guys were a perfect addition to my collection.

 First up is the fellow with a dramatic pose.  He looks like he could be posing for the cover of an Old school D&D book or maybe one of the old Conan books.

 Next up we have this dynamic fellow with his Danish Ax.  The pose has a lot of life to it and really fits the Berserker ethos... hold you ground and you might land a hit on him but He is going to hit you no matter what you do to him.

 The last two have small axes and shields, as if they haven't fully embraced the Berserker ethos of full attack and to hell with the consequences. I do like their Wolf-skin capes/head gear.  The designs on the shields such as they are where hand painted by me.

 I believe these will add 20 points to my total.  I don't have any information on who made these if any one recognizes them I am curious.


MilesR: Wonderful figures - playing Vikings in Saga is always a lot of fun - especially with the berserkers.  These wild eyed bruisers will net you 20 points!

From BrendonW - Curtgeld Dwarf Berserker (25 points)

This Dwarf maniac is my Curtgeld. A Dwarf Berserker which is no doubt inspired by the Viking sagas that tell of men who threw all caution to the wind and would enter into combat either naked or only clothed in the skin of an animal. Shield biters that seemed immune to pain. Was a crazed state induced by the intake of certain mushrooms and/or large quantities of alcohol? Maybe.

".....the berserkers often wore special clothing, for instance furs of a wolf or bear, to indicate that this person was a berserker, and would not be able to tell friend from foe when in rage "bersærkergang". In this way, other allied would know to keep their distance."

".....This fury, which was called berserkergang, occurred not only in the heat of battle, but also during laborious work. Men who were thus seized performed things which otherwise seemed impossible for human power."

" ....This condition is said to have begun with shivering, chattering of the teeth, and chill in the body, and then the face swelled and changed its colour. With this was connected a great hot-headedness, which at last gave over into a great rage, under which they howled as wild animals, bit the edge of their shields, and cut down everything they met without discriminating between friend or foe."

"...a demoniacal frenzy suddenly took him; he furiously bit and devoured the edges of his shield; he kept gulping down fiery coals; he snatched live embers in his mouth and let them pass down into his entrails; he rushed through the perils of crackling fires..."

The Miniature is plastic from a box set made by Avatars of War. The set gets you twenty loonys with some extra bits for a standard, horn blower and champion. Options also include Mohawks but I prefer a shaved head. It's possibly enough bother for a Dwarf Berserker to maintain a beard let alone a hairstyle. I purchased this premium set for including them in my Kings of War Dwarf army but I have taken a long time to make any progress on them. The challenge though is great for motivating me to make progress.

The base has been left blank for Curt to make his own (I did glue a strip of paper over the slota hole though). The feet of these miniatures are flush so I cut some sprue about 1-2mm and glued to his soles to provide space for any basing material. Alternatively those could be cut off and he can be glued directly to a base. As usual my photography does not do justice to reality but you get the general idea of how he looks.

Gotta love that beard style he's rockin. Rumour has it that he consumes large amounts of MacRoyd special brew. It is said that is a contributing factor to his MacRoyd Rage.

Cheers and thank you from Brendon W.

There's something wonderfully crazy about your Curtgeld entry Brendon. I don't know if it is the massive moustachios or the ridiculously large axes but he's obviously compensating for something. 

Either way I'm sure Curt will appreciate all the attention you've lavished on both the miniature and the back story. Well done, that's a corker of a submission. Cheers, Millsy.