Gods and Giants

Like any wargamer worth their salt, I have several projects on the go at any one time, in various stages of (in)completion. This one came about when I was browsing James Morris' blog, looking for ideas/inspiration for my El Cid army. I have long been an admirer of James Morris' historical armies, ever since I came across an article in Wargames Illustrated which showcased his El Cid figures (check out his blog Mogsymakes - it is full of inspiring stuff!) but what caught my eye this time was a post about Norse myth wargaming. Now, I have always enjoyed Norse mythology (which probably explains my affinity for The Rout in Horus Heresy), but have never considered it a prospect for wargaming - all that changed as I read James' blog! He is writing a set of rules called Midgard, a set designed for bigger battles of 10+ units a side (although you can go much bigger!). One of his battle reports/playtests was of a mixed Viking and Dwarf army, led by various Norse gods such as Thor taking on a Frost Giant army led by Loki. Now I have some Vikings already, plus lots of GW Orcs for Lord of the Rings, and I have always wanted to get some Dwarfs, so I thought this would make a fun new project that (hopefully!) won't need too many new purchases.

The Frost Giants were easy - I ordered the Reaper Bones Frost Giant Princess, Frost Giant Bodyguard and Frost Giant Heroine.

These are lovely models and because they are made out of plastic, very reasonably priced. I got mine from Mighty Lancer Games, who were very prompt indeed in dispatching the models. The only thing is priming them - they are marketed as ready to paint without priming, but because I wanted to use Contrast Paints, I need some sort of basecoat. Apparently, the usual rattlecan primer doesn't work with them, so I brushed on Army Painter Skeleton Bone as a base colour/primer to work from.

The Norse Gods proved slightly trickier at first. James Morris uses figures from a boardgame as well as a Lucid Eye miniature for Loki, but I fancied something a bit different. One of the joys of 3d printing is the ability to upscale the miniatures, and I wanted my Thor to look suitably beefy, so I did a search for 3d Norse god miniatures. Unsurprisingly, there were lots of figures based on the Marvel movies, but while I quite liked the look of Loki, I wanted something more 'Dark Ages' for Thor. Eventually, I settled on this figure:

I went for the helmeted version and asked for him to be upscaled so that he stands about 60mm tall - suitably imposing!

The Loki figure is very much inspired by his appearance in the Marvel movies, with his horned helmet and spear. Loki is supposed to be of Frost Giant lineage, many of whom have horned helmets, so this was a nice subtle way of linking the Frost Giants with Loki himself. He is also a 3d printed miniature:

The detail on the miniatures is excellent, even down to the knotwork engraved on the head of Mjolnir. The only problem was I dropped Thor and so the wings on his helmet are partially snapped off - resin makes for beautifully detailed, but brittle, miniatures!

 Here they are photographed on a rare bright day in front of a John Hodgson backdrop. 

Grend Whitehair, bodyguard to Princess Elvar

Vol, Frost Giant Heroine, and Grend

Princess Elvar joins Vol and Grend

Loki, the Horned God & Trickster, and Elvar

Thor, God of Thunder and Protector of Humankind

Thor and Grend face off! You can see the intricate detail on the head of the 3d print of Mjolnir 

And just to give an idea of how big these giants are compared to a normal 28mm figure, here's a shot of Vol with a model of Aragorn (my favourite version - the one from the Breaking of the Fellowship set) from Games Workshop that I finished at the same time, again front of a John Hodgson backdrop:

I am very happy with how they have turned out, with the Contrast Paints working a treat to give a very naturalistic feel to the Frost Giants. The only slight concern is that Loki's aesthetic is very different to that of the Frost Giants - obviously the preening god is a bit too concerned about his appearance! At some point I might source a different figure, but for now they are all good to go.