Saga Normans, setting up a demo game to teach it to others

Organizing a demo game to introduce 2 new players to Saga. Spencer got on a mail group and found more willing players in Vancouver and a group in Portland (that does not have minis). Spencer and I have been busy ripping out more minis not just for ourselves but to offer up to new players to play with.

*Edit to Clarify: We've got 2 volunteers ON TOP OF the groups Spencer has made contact with in Portland and Vancouver. We are hoping to have a small local "game night" made up of these players this summer.

I have 10 points worth of Viking faction while Spencer has some extras for Anglo Danes. One of the nuances of the game is that many of the lower echelon units (levy and warrior) are pretty interchangeable. Opening things up more we house-ruled that minis in a unit do not need uniformity of weapons unless there is some mechanical difference like javelins or Dane axes. This means I can use my 8 GW Riders of Rohim minis.

Speaking of:

Undercoat is Army Painter leather brown, block painted, (literally) dipped in Minwax Polyshade antique walnut. Did these 6 yesterday and this morning I finished 2 more, for 8, and they are all drying after a coat of matte. I will finish with flocking tomorrow. This will be a unit of Norman warriors, 1 point.

*Edit: You'll notice "lumps" under some of the hooves. One of the design flaws of GW's Rohim is that most of the horses have one point of contact to the base. This, in my experience, equates to a broken mini. I used Miliput balls to add extra support for the horse to add a second, if not third, point of contact to the base.

I also completely finished my random Norman infantry and crossbowmen. Each unit is 8 strong and 1 point.

As I have mentioned in the past on this blog all these minis, except for one crossbowman, has been in my collection for over a decade.

I ordered Gripping Beast's box of random plastic Dark Age Warriors. I have 2 specific plans for these minis. 

1) I need to add a levy unit of slingers to my Vikings.

2) This thing will allow me to make 3 or more points worth of warriors that can fit into most warbands.

I have not started on these guys yet but when I do I am sure I will take pics and blog about it here.

Also ordered and on it's way to my door step are Conquest's Norman Knight minis (Norman Hearth Guard and Warlord!) and some Renendra tents for terrain pieces i have an idea for.

*Edit: Was reading up on some Saga rules just now and saw that I was wrong. What I thought was "all minis in same unit must have same weapons" is actually:
Any unit that has special equipment that offers special abilities (eg Dane Axe) must have minis that have that equipment.

So... no problem at all for my horsey dudes. My crossbows troops are an example of the above though.