SAGA - The first Anglo-Danish ready to carve out a kingdom

I haven't played SAGA for quite a while now. But having finally talked a friend of mine into giving it a try, my interest was suddenly rekindled and I got straight to the work bench.
Besides my Late Romans I only have fledgling Norman and Saxon forces and instead of doing the smart thing and rounding these out I of course decided to start a completely new force. What self respecting wargamer would have done otherwise in my position, eh?
Anglo-Danish it had to be this time.

For the warlord I used the Penda figure from Gripping Beast I had lying around the lead pile for way too long. Thus he's sporting a rather old fashioned helmet which seems to be based on finds from the so called Staffordshire Hoard dating back to the 7th and early 8th century.
As armour often was passed down the generations I don't think it's too much of a stretch to imagine it beeing a well mainted heirloom.

One unit of Anglo-Danish Huscarls (Elite warriors) can be equipped with the rather characteristic Dane Axes. Not beeing overly impressed with most of the Gripping Beast offerings I have to confess the Dane Axes are amongst the best out there for this particular weapon. Full of animation, excellently suited for skirmish gaming, and properly sized axes. Most others I've found are either too short to look the part or the handles are thick like tree trunks, making it hard to imagine how to wield such a thing in battle.

To further distinguish the exalted status of the Huscarls they got helmets painted in blue and white.
I imagine it might have been something the elite warriors of a household could have done to their equipment. Not having to spend time earning your livelihood with other means than soldiering for your lord, leaves you with enough time on your hands for enhancing your equipment, I imagine.

For the Ceorls (your bog standard, run of the mill warrior) I again used Gripping Beast, but just because I had the figures anyway. Ment to represent Gall-Gaedhill mercenaries (Swords for hire in SAGA) I deemed them suitable enough as stand ins for my Anglo-Danish warriors.

The blond one with the green-blue shield actually is a Great Escape Games miniature which comes with the Age of Ravens supplement for the Clash of Empires set of rules.

So, that's it for now. Reinforcements have already arrived by mail (not longship this time) and will hopefully be added to the force in due time.

Thanks for viewing and have a nice sunday!