Dottirs of Hel

Seeing as these are barbarian ladies I will go to the 1985 film Red Sonja for inspiration. I have yet to see the remake and I will avoid doing so for the moment. I also thought of the comics as I guessed she was probably on horseback at some point in them. Good luck for me, as I had forgotten, Brigitte Nielsen had been on a horse as well with a great costume while she played the titular role. With all that I will make a not so subtle reference and name the leader of this army Ruðra Sigrid.

I have decided on what figure to use for Ruðra. During a late night with insomnia I managed to find an Amazon that was partner to the one I used for Bubo in the Harryhausen Hellenics army. Here I am going to modify her to properly sit atop this, what I can best describe as, dire wolverine. This helps to cut the cost of buying anything new. The original idea of using a copy of Bad Squiddo Freya on Hildsvini was good but just more money out of pocket. I feel good about this as it means this figure has been used and isn’t just taking up space without purpose.

I’ll need to open up the hips on this model like I did for the model riding atop Bubo. I’ll also trim back the crotch curtain that was sculpted and printed (some people call them loincloths). I don’t think I have enough space or talent to sculpt the scale armor Red Sonja is typically seen in but I’ll think about it. I will, however, give her fur topped boots. Its a tragedy to think about the trend years ago of young white women wearing Ugg boots drinking their pumpkin spice lattes. I could try to sculpt the coat from the film and just do some freehand to give it some visual interest from Mongol textiles. Who knows, with a nod to the YouTube channel Habitual Linecrosser “I be building shit”.

I’ve decided to use the same lovely Trollblood Base paint from P3 as a key color on this army like I did with previous Vikings. It is very nice to see in person as the matte finish just blends so well. I’ve also decided on using Proacyrl’s Burnt Red as a contrast. I have high hopes for the figures.

Besides that I have decided on my monsters that will be added, a beast mount to kitbash and some halfling walrus wranglers to “charge” the enemy. These fantastic elements are what make Age of Magic so fun. You get right next to what is normal and then have a reveal of the supernatural. Nothing is quite what it seems like on the surface.

Myminifactory provided more potential add ons.

In order to get some teaching in I need to put together an army together that I don’t mind being handled. I also will need to not care too terribly much about the detail work like I have with my own finished Arabian Knights. I’ve done two Viking armies so far so I’m pretty comfortable with putting them on a board and running away without getting bogged down. On the other hand, as I work on the Harryhausen Hellenics, I think The Daughters of Hel will be a good break using Gripping Beast’s Shieldmaiden set.

So I’ll add a couple of units of Shieldmaiden archers as levy to round out numbers and then get a unit of ice wolves printed for cavalry.  Beyond that I think a copy of the Norse Witch on Moose from Bad Squiddo and a set of eight mounted female Vikings will be good before putting up a monster.

Looking over more of the Bad Squiddo range I probably would add a standard bearer, musician and valkyrie for a command. Freya on Hildsvini would work well for a Warlord on Beast. More riders

Now to monsters, it seems like I might get a chance for some variety in printing up a frost giantess. Then again I might be able to dig up an elemental ice bear.