Mini Review - Gripping Beast Crusader Axe & Egil

Here are a couple of units for Saga that escaped the other reviews for various reasons.
They were kindly supplied by Gripping Beast.

Firstly a C&C Crusader Hearthguard Axemen unit (that links to this article) and then a Hero of the Viking Age, Egil Skalagrimsson (I covered his abilities in this article).

Gripping Beast Crusader Axemen

Crusader Hearthguard Axemen (SCD04 Crusader Knights with double handed weapons)

This selection comes in a variety of armour, headgear and action-oriented poses. I really like the effect of charging Knights. There are backup weapons (swords) on belts to add more detail.

You will need to drill out the hands to take the long handled axes (supplied).

The axes are plenty long enough for effect! Cut them shorter with a craft knife if its too much.

Flash seems to be non-existent on the models I received. Tow of the models have a barely noticeable mould line on the inside of the legs. A trim with the edge of a craft knife will see them gone with no loss of detail.

These have become my favourite unit from the Crusader Starter Warband (foot). The detail and action on the figures makes them great for the Saga skirmish game. There's almost no work to do on the underside of the model - just glue them to their plastic Renedra bases.

SCD04 Knights with double handed axe (copyright Gripping Beast)

Egil Skalagrimsson (SFH033 Egil plus Rules Card)

Egil is an imposing figure.....

The model is one of the more detailed I have reviewed for Saga from Gripping Beast. There is lots of detail for the painter to work on, front and back.... the horn, ornate details and trim on the clothing.... lovely!

The Cloak has a fur trim to add to the detail on the reverse.

The model has no noticeable flash and almost no mould lines. A small amount of cleanup on the inside of the boots and possibly the top of the (bald) head with the edge of a craft knife may be needed. None of this will affect detail and some modellers may not even bother as its almost invisible.

The axe-head for the Egil model pops into a hole in the top of the shaft of the axe. Quite neat. You will need some superglue to fix this in place.

Apart from gluing to its Renedra plastic base (supplied) this is the only modelling to do apart from the minor cleanup described.

An excellent model and paints up very nicely...

Egil painted! (Copyright Gripping Beast)

Feel free to discuss these or other models in general at the forum below...

--Mike.