"GBP Vikings and Saxons" Topic

I finished painting my Gripping Beast Viking Hirdmen and I want to order either the Warlords Hail Caesar Saxon Thegns or the GBP Saxons and I noticed they are very similar to the Vikings if not the same, I guess they are produced by the same manufacturer Wargames Factory. Any advice on how to paint them so they do not look so similar? I know the shield paintings are different and even the Hail Caesar version comes with decals. Thanks.

All hairy guys with pointy things. Yup!
The Vikings would have a lot more blondes and redheads than the Saxons, particularly if your Saxons are from Sussex. Hair color in Britain does (or did) get lighter as you go north.
Looking at Ian Heath's Armies of the Dark Ages, 600 -1066, here are some color used by the two sides.

Vikings
Red – a favorite
Scarlet
Red-brown
Brown
Blue – another favorite
Green – a third favorite
White
Black
Grey (especially for cloaks)

Saxons
Scarlet
Red
Brown
Dark green
Purple
Indigo
Deep blue
White
Tunics could also be unbleached wool or linen with embroidered borders
He notes that upper classes, like thegns, could wear silk, if you can do a silk finish.

Yeah, there is a lot of color overlap there. My personal approach has been to try to have them different, but to paint the underside of the base different colors based on nationality.

Grelber

Hi Grelber, thanks, that is a very informative list. I will follow the guideline for sure. Cheers!

The evidence for specific colors in the "Dark Ages" is so scant that you can paint any and all sides however you want provided that you use mostly browns, tans, greys and reserve brighter colors for the most important or higher class warriors. As many have indicated before in these forums, shades of red, blue and white were probably fairly common. Green tends to fade quickly as does cheap yellow. True purple was used mainly by Mediterranean and Middle Eastern nobility or elites. My two denarii. :)

I've always wondered why Heath speaks of "red" as distinct from "scarlet" and "crimson". Any ideas?

FierceKitty Shades of Red. Scarlet tends to be brilliant and somewhat orangy. Crimson tends to be deeper tending to purple. Recommend varying your shades to achieve a natural look. Cheers!

Thanks. I'm not puzzled by shades of red, but rather by the WRG terminology.