Little Odo's Romano-British

Little Odo -from Bexleyheath, Kent, UK- have been painting a wonderful 28mm Romano-British warband. They are Gripping Beast 28mm miniatures; such a beautiful models indeed. He used Little Big Men transfers for his shields.

You can see more of his work and a quick battle report at his blog.

Dunc's Romano-British

Dunc -from Hove, Sussex, UK- have a painted a lovely Romano-British warband using Splintered Light Miniatures based on pennies.

You can see more of his interesting work at his blog.

Arthur and Merlin

Known as Arthur Pendragon, but Pendragon is not a surname but a title meaning something like "head of warriors" in Welsh, which could translate as "warlord" or "chieftain". Arthur was not a king, but a warlord in the service of a king, possibly Maelgwn Gwynedd, king of Gywnedd and one of the most powerful British lords of the time. If we seek a comparable figure we have a very close resemblance: El Cid, although we could say that he himself was king (from Valencia).

Like another famous fantastic magician Merlin was also known by many names, such as Emrys, Llallogan or Ambrosius, but his original name was Welsh: Myrddin, later latinized as Merlin. The first reference to Merlin is found in Armes Prydein, Y Gododdin, and his role of prophet or counselor was drifting towards its designation as magician.His biography varies widely according to sources, but it's remarkable his relation with the kingdom of Dyfed (it is said that he was the illegitimate son of a princess), their advice on Vortigern when building Dinas Emrys and its role as guardian of the young Arthur, along with Cynyr Ceinfarfog. Later he directed his steps towards the north after the battle of Camlann, heading to the court of King Gwendoleu. He remained there until his new employer went to war against the kings of Strathclyde and Ebrauc. After the death of Gwndoleu in Battle of Ardderyd it is said that Merlin went mad and disappeared into the wilderness.

Romano-British Teulu and bard

Another update, there are few Romano-British to show now ...

First we have Owain mab Urien, son of the king of Rheged, he is known as Sir Yvain thanks to medieval works. He is also son in law of King Lot of Gododdin (brother in law, therefore, of the other two Teulu I showed you above.) Despite the initial rivalry with Arthur he would eventually become part of this Teulu. He was popular by the group of elite cavalry that rode with him, called "The Crows."

Next to Owain is the famous bard Taliesin, who served in the court of his father. Taliesin is remembered as having the blessings of Ceredwen, although they come to him in an unconventional way. His works are filled with an overwhelming mysticism, and his writings are highly recommended.
Taliesin talked about Owain in several of his works and he wrote for him the elegy "Marwnad Owain."

Pan laddodd Owain Fflamddwyn Nid oedd fwy nogyd cysgaid
Cysgid Lloegr llydan nifer A lleufer yn eu llygaid
A rhai ni ffoynt haeach A oeddynt hyach na rhaid
Owain a'u cosbes yn ddrud Mal cnud yn dylud defaid

When Owain slew Fflamddwyn it was no more to him than to sleep

The wide host of Lloegr sleeps with the light in their eyes

And those that did not flee were braver than was needed

Owain punished them harshly like a pack of wolves chasing sheep

Romano-British Teulu

The Teulu were the bodyguards of the Romano-British warlords. Teulu means "family" in Welsh, and that was mostly what they were, but they could be friends, allies or clientes also. Anyway they were really similar to the Macedonian Companions.
In this picture you can see a couple of members of Arthur's Teulu: the brothers Gwalchmai and Gwalchafed. Known as Sir Gawain and Sir Gaheris thanks to medieval literature. They were sons of Lot Luwddoc of Gododdin and Elain, and nephews of Arthur.

Romano-British Rherel

Spear was the most poular weapon in Britania due to its simple design and its low cost. But some individuals were wealthy enough to affort the queen of the weapons: the sword. Rherel went even beyond and they could affort helmets and chainmails.
Rherel were part of the nobles' personal guard, or even they were petty local nobles. Anyway their excellent equipment made them great hand to hand contenders.

All of them are carrying coptic tunics, but maybe it's hard to appreciate in the pictures. More freehands for the shields.

Romano-British Aulue

The Aulue were a militia unit in the British Kingdoms. They should be able to provide their own equipment and follow the local lord to the battleflield. They are equipped with spear and shield, some may have got a helm if they were lucky, but body armor would be rare.
They were also known as Pedyt, from the Latin name Peditatus (Pedites) of which they are clearly inspired, subsisting as a kind of successor unit in Britain.

Some of them carry shields with emblems of British units according to Notitia Dignitatum (Legio Praesidensis and Secunda Britannica), other shields show versions of other units emblems and early christian symbols (Chi-Rhos)
You can also see a few Coptic tunics.

Romano-British Archers

Romano-british archers ready for action.
They wear some coptic tunics; harder to paint, but they look übercool.
Great Splintered Light miniatures.

Saxon shield patterns

Some of the saxon shields I have painted so far.
My original idea was to use decals, but I've finally painted them using freehand.

Thegn and Dryhten

The saxon leaders ready for battle. These are the boss, a Thegn, and his close henchman, a Drythen. Superb Splintered Light models.

Wulfbyrnan and Hraefnhelmas

A couple of dangerous guys, a Wulfbyrnan and a Hraefnhelmas. They are adpts of ancient warrior cults from their ancestral continental homeland. We could also simply call them berserkers.
The warrior with the spear is painted as a tribute to a well known movie from the eighties.

Geoguth and Galdre

A couple of saxon characters. These are a Geoguth and a Galdre.
A Geoguth is a young warrior looking for a chance to test his courage. A Galdre is a saxon priest.

Gesiþas

The term Gesiþas comes from the Old Saxon gisīð, and this from the Old High German gisindo, meaning companion or comrade.
The Gesiþas are good armoured troops from the low nobility or great renown warriors choosen by a Thegn or a Dryhten.
They are an armoured version of th Geoguþe, carrying spears as well as hand weapons, such as swords or axes. They are protected by chainmails.

Freehand painted shields again.

Langbogascéotendas & Geoguþe ready for action

The varnish isn't matt enough yet, but it would be in a few days.
All of them are washed in Rembrandt's Vandyke Brown.

Saxon light spearmen WIP

The Geoguþe are ready to be washed and have their bases done. Finally I've choice to paint their shields using freehand instead of transfers; it's a quite hard job, but I think they deserve it.
The Geoguþe are light spearmen, carrying a shield but unarmoured.

Saxon longbowmen WIP

I've started my saxon warband painting the Langbogascéotendas (longbowmen with shields at their backs). They'll be just six, so it would be fast to get them painted and I can also start practicing with the shields, although these are smaller than the spearmen ones.
This is how they look before washing, varnishing and working their bases.

Gathering the warbands

My warbands from Splintered Light Miniatures arrived a few days ago. Around a week since I ordered them; that is a really good service considering they came from Georgia (US) to northern Spain.

I really liked them when I first saw them in their webpage, specially those characters packs which are really useful for Brytenwalda. But, believe me, they look even better when you can see them on your hands. This also goes for the horses, which don't look that good when on their web, but they are great... even better than others 15mm manufacturers (around Essex horses standard in my opinion). The models are very good done, and it's hard to find a mould line.
I have take this pic in order to take a look on compatibility and so. It is a SL armoured saxon spearman surrounded by miniatures from some of my DBA armies. It fits quite good with all of them, but the Xyston hoplites look a little bit bigger (they are more 18mm than 15mm, to be honest). I've forgotten to put some Alain Touller models in the picture, but they fit great too.


And here is a WiP of my Brytenwalda warbands. You can see a british teulu, Arthur (on Essex horse), a teulu on foot and a saxon thegn on the solo pics.
The infantry miniatures are based on 1 cent euro coin and cavalry goes on 5 cent euro coins. They are a perfect size for them and add a good weight at the base.