15 March 2011

Viking Menhirs

I saw these awhile ago (http://tasmancave.blogspot.com/2010/10/runestones-and-menhirs.html) and liked them so much I bought one large one for myself, plus two smaller ones.  These lovely menhirs are produced by Fenris Games and add a lot of theme to Dark Age battles without taking up great deal of table space.


They come cast in grey resin with great detail and no flash whatsoever - in fact I used them as delivered for their first game.  However, the wonderful detailing deserved better treatment.  I gave them a wash with some watered down GW Badab Black and a light grey drybrush.  I also based them to help stability: the smaller ones were OK on flat ground but the larger one was very unstable.  A bit of GW flock (to match my GW gaming mat) and some silfour tufts completed them.





That green wash in the crevasses is me trying for a mossy/wet kind of look without using flock, which would look a bit over the top I think.

Interestingly, the larger one is based on the Stora Hammers I stone in Sweden:

Depicted on the Stora Hammars I stone are six panels with mythological, religious and martial background, including panels depicting a woman between two men, a sacrifice scene with a Valknut over the altar, a woman standing between a longship manned with armed warriors and another group of armed men, and a battle scene. Because of the position of the woman in two of the panels, it has been interpreted as illustrating the legend of Hildr. The stone includes an image of a warrior about to be hung from a tree with a Valknut nearby, considered to be Odin's cult symbol, giving validity to reports regarding human sacrifice in Norse paganism. Near the alter is a shaped stone, which one scholar has been suggested may be a cult stone similar to the Elgesem runestone.

from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stora_Hammar_stone

7 comments:

  1. nice menhirs - tempted to buy some

    -- Allan

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  2. Very nice, good size and well painted.

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  3. Lovely and this'll go great with my Vikings (that is when they're done) and my Long Ship. Which Viking minis are those?

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  4. Thanks everyone!

    Tidders - very reasonable for the price I think, and very crisply cast

    Herrodadog - Wargames Factory's hard plastic minis. And I still cant fine one of those lovely longships you did!

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  5. Cor!! I like them... I can feel a pain in my wallet, the dosh is leaving on it's own accord, dammit!!

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