SAGA recently added Angry Monks as a sword for hire unit for Christian factions only. They are basically a non shooting levy that generate SAGA dice if they are in close proximity to the Warlord. Additionally, when killed, they allow the controlling player to re-roll a spent SAGA die and place it on the table.
The Gripping Beast figures in the first two rows were painted a couple of years ago. I recently added the four in the back from Black Tree's monks based on the Cadfael series. None of them are particularly angry looking, most are dour and a couple look menacingly stern. Maybe they can make the raiders feel guilty.
The best use that I can imagine for Angry Monks would be to surround the Warlord and function as human shields. However, since they are a levy, you cannot use them to take wounds for the Warlord under his special rules. If you like to play unpredictably, the extra dice from your martyred monks could make for some wild situations, but I do not see them ending up on my game table as anything other than background for a scenario - maybe escort "baggage." If anyone can suggest a good tactical use for the monks, please let me know.
Cadfael is one of my favorite mystery series and I like these Black Tree figures. They have nice proportions, expressive faces and are a bit taller than the Gripping Beast monks.
Link to Studio Tomahawks PDF for Angry Monks
Here is a Shadowforge female Viking flanked by a Wargames Factory and Gripping Beast plastic figures. I only have the single figure, so I based her as a Warlord.
Finally, I am now about half way finished with my forty plastic figures from the Gripping Beast Dark Age Warrior box. The flexibility of these figures is such that with appropriate skin tones and fabrics, they can pass for anything from Vikings to Andalusian slingers. I plan to put together about fifteen slingers from the set.
Nice work on these varied figures. I like the monks and that girl Viking. Best, Dean
ReplyDeleteP.S. The use of the monks remind me of the Magic phase in WHFB :)