the gathering commences ...

after seeing the beacon fires alight various contingents have set off to help the Opplanders...

The 'knights' of Krona...

 The warrior monks of St Olaf from Stavinga ...

 Erik Forkbeard and his men from Skienmark ...

 The Northlander's  took a couple days to muster their contingent.  Beornwulf the Bold leads the force off on the march ...

The King and Queen watch them file past ..... 

Northlanders on the march ...... 

Beacon fires burn ....

Men have been gathering in the northern hills of Oppland; a number camps have sprung up near settlements. One of the largest is at Arendal, near the first of the beacon signal fires.

After much deliberation it is decided that it is time to set the beacon signal fire....

 The beacon is lit and burns furiously giving out a warm red glow ...

 As the sun sets, they can see the next beacon a-blaze, soon a chain of beacon fires can be seen. The signal has been sent, now they must wait to see who will come to help them .....

slinking away ...

With news from the northern hills of men loyal to King Odemars gathering -  Nogbad thought it was time to make the best of things and get away before it got too dangerous.

Early one morning Nogbad and his most loyal supporters loaded up a boat with as much booty as they could get their hands on and set off ....

Angstrom Angstromsen was furious when he learnt of Nogbads actions, there was still too much to do to passify Oppland to go after him - he would have to wait.

In the north of Oppland ...

In the northern hills of Oppland, men loyal to King Odemars had taken control of the last of fire beacons, now they could signal for help when they were ready...

 --oXo---

Meanwhile Angstrom Angstromsen (the usurper), had journied northwards, to investigate why his men would not go up into the hills. He looked skyward above the foothills,

 there it was - a fire dragon, swooping about.

No wonder his men would not advance any further. Hopefully the dragon would go back to its lair now the eruption of a small volcano nearby had stopped - then perhaps he could take control of the northern hills.

Beornwolf accepts command ....

After King Odemars of Oppland had been deposed and his kingdom seized by Angstrom Angstromsen with the help of Nogbad the bad,  Noggin had been considering what to do.

Queen Alfhilda who had made it to safety in Nogland had asked him for assistance. Learning that many men loyal to the King were gathering in the northern hills of Oppland, Noggin sought advice from the soothsayer who lived in the hills nearby.

Outside, after getting a reading ....
 
Noggin: Well the runecast and omens are good for intervention, Beornwolf will you lead the men south when the time comes ?
Beornwulf: Yes, certainly
Noggin: I will stay in Nogland, with Nogbad around I will protect the kingdom.

Noggin goes to see the Ice Dragon ....

Noggin the Nog, Thor Nogson and Ronf have journied to the upper part of the hidden valley to visit their old friend the ice dragon.....

A selection of ladies ...

A selection of ladies, including a shield maiden (from Irregular Miniatures 'les Girls' pack, with a few little tweaks done)

Noggin character: the Ice Dragon - WIP

The character from a Noggin illustration (image of postcard - available from here)

I've been working on a Ral Partha dragon, modifying it to be more like the Ice Dragon as I can without doing to much alteration. I've made the body a bit larger and added more detail along the ridge of the back, in addition I've had to sculpt a replacement for a missing front claw.

Ronf encounters a bear .....

A small adventure for the Noggin character Ronf (see here for conversion and info)

Ronf was out for a walk in the upper reaches of the hidden valley...

 he heard a russle in the undergrowth and the a large bear appeared on the path in front of him ....

 Ronf stood up as tall as he could and shouted "Shoo! ya great big furry lump. Off with ya !", the bear rather nonplussed turned and wandered off down another path ...

Ronf slightly ruffled by his encounter, continued on ...

The Quest for a Bride. The beginnings

Hagrid Hagridson has sent out a call for men to go aviking, men flocked from the surrounding countryside to learn more, some left when the object of the raid was revealed, but 60 men, two boats crews agreed to follow him.

.

Weary Warriors ...

Picked up a job lot of 15 dark age warrior figures of Ebay for a  snip at £5 plus postage; these are older figures but have a style of pose I liked. On arrival they looked rather weary ...

 After a bit of re-touching of paintwork, some new shields/spears and onto bases they certainly look ready for action now ....

Sven Eriksen and the Obelisk of Ninnius - part 2 (of 2)

Continued from the previous post. 

Sven Eriksen and his men are aiming to ransack the precincts of the temple round the obelisk of Ninnius.

---oXo---

 Sven issues orders for his mean to move forward ...

 The local look-outs have spotted the vikings, some lightly armed men with slings and bows are positioned - hopefully to delay the vikings while their main force gets into position ...

 A runner warns the priests...

 The locals assemble their forces ....

 The vikings move inland slowly....

 Having made sure the ruined temple near the river is clear of any opposition, they move forward up the slope, coming under fire from archers.

As the local main force deploys to protect the obelisk precinct, the vikings continue to press forward and are getting to grips with the lighter armed defenders in their way ...

 The vikings have pushed the opposition back and prepare to attack ...

 They charge in - a stiff fight ensues ....

 The vikings are pushed back .....

 Seeing the numbers of the opposition and his right flank in danger of being turned, Sven orders his men to fall back and return to the ship ....

 They scramble aboard and put out into the estuary, exchanging arrows with locals on shore

 As they make way down the river, Sven discusses with Elfric what to do...

Thwarted by the defenders of obelisk,  Sven decides to return home. He'll have to come back with more men or maybe a stealthy approach is needed - maybe he could look for another clue to the whereabouts of Whorled Cup in the mean-time.

Sven Eriksen and the Obelisk of Ninnius - part 1 (of 2)

Sven Eriksen continues his quest to obtain the clues to the location of the Whorled Cup and its treasures.

He has located the next item which contains the the third clue, and has journied to the the shores of the Offlandt and intends to ransack the precinct of the Obelisk of Ninnius.

---oXo---

The temple complex of Ninnius....

 Early morning and the priests conduct rituals at the Obelisk of Ninnius ....

 The vikings arrived the night before and setup a small camp, now they are up and about and preparing to move in-land.

How will they fare ? .....

to be continued .....

Noggin character: Ronf - WIP

I've been slowly tweaking a 15mm figure into a version of the small man from the hidden valley called Ronf.  The character from a Noggin illustration:

My attempt so far to model him...

Passage to Snorriskar ....

Those that escaped from capture in Kragerheim in Oppland, including Queen Alfhilda and her young son, journey north to seek safety in Nogland via the pass of Snorriskar.

---oXo---

The garrison at Brodgars tower in the pass of Snorriskar keep a look out ...

 The Opplanders leave the last hamlet on the last leg of their journey to the pass ....

The searchers, men sent by Angstromsen to intercept the Opplanders (the Queen and her party) check the route to the pass...

The searchers locate the Opplanders...

and close in for the attack ...

The Opplanders form a shield wall to fend of the attack ...

The attack is repulsed ..

The Opplanders move forward and counter-attack as their opposition falls back ....

The counter-attack succeeded but with losses ....

The Opplanders move onwards up the trail ....

As they come within sight of Brodgar's tower, another group of attackers await them ....

The Opplanders fend off the small group of attackers ....

Having seen the Opplanders - part of the garrison at Brodgars tower leaves to provide help ...

The attackers give up and retire ....

The Opplanders reach safety and are greeted by the commander of the garrison at Snorriskar ....