Thalla a chluiche le do deideagan

Yup, that's genuine Irish in the title in case you might ask yourselves that.
If you want to know what it means: Ctrl+C and then Google it :-p
So here we are at the start of a new army, an unofficial one this time: Albion.
I've always had a fondness for Celts and Celtic art, so much in fact that I've got some Celtic tattoos done.
I was thinking on starting a Norse army first but I had already a few Britons miniatures from Warlord Games lying around the house so the choice was quickly made.
Now normally I'd wanted a huge 30 man Warbandunit but when I started assembling them yesterday I found out that half of them had swords in their hands and they can't be swapped, they're just to tiny for that.
Luckily the box contained the 'spicky haired heads' too so a small Woad Raiders unit was made too.
Early this year Brigade Models did a 25% discount on their Celtos range, a unit of Swordmaidens was therefore shipped off to Belgium as was a small unit of Pixies from Black Cat.
To lead these 'Hooligans' into battle my eye fell upon a model from Hasslefree: Barbarian Libby.
All things magical will be provided by one of my impuls buys from Crisis, another Celtos miniature.
The Swordmaidens were painted black before I took this picture so they don't show clearly, I seem to have failed a stupidity test at some point.


                                          Top left to right: Swordmadens - Pixies

                                Bottom left to right: Warband - Chieftain - Druid - Woad Raiders

Chieftain: She's sitting on a Kelpie and at 25 pts it may seem expencive but it causes fear, dishes out more hurt than a normal horse and treats water like it was normal terrain.
Also it's a typical creature in Irish folklore so it simply had to go in.

Druid: No Albion army without a Druid, these fellas can handlethe lores of Heaven, Life and Beasts and true to Celtic customs have a boosting effect on morale, Druids didn't only have a magical or religious part in Celtic society.

Warband: These guys are pretty average on the whole but they do have the benefit of being cheap and even with the extra option of having spears they come in at only 5 pts each.
The benefit of spears I've learned at my cost when I've played against elves armed as such so the extra point on having a 3th rank fighting in close combat is well spend.

Woad Raiders: These boys are pretty much the shocktroops of any Albion army and scared the crap out of the Romans back in their days, sometimes litteraly.
At first I didn't want them so soon but faith had it otherwise so they're here to stay.
You'll see that the unit champion isn't present yet, I'm getting one of those naked fanatics for that and ever since my wife found out that my army will include some nude blokes she's become much more intersted in my hobby...

Sword Maidens: What can I say, women would often fight alongside the men in a Celtic tribe and the fact that I could get them cheap was the official reason they're part of the army.
The fact that I like painting tits also greatly helped in my choice to be honest.
And they kick ass in close combat, everybody happy.

Pixies: Now I wouldn't bet money on these in a straight fight but they do have one major factor and that's their befuddling effect they have on units within 12" of them and so can be extremely effective against low leadership units, luring them into the clutches of the rest of the army.
Also they're flyers and can be handy for flanking and annoying warmachines.

Disadvantages: The Core units will no doubt die in droves since they have no armour save whatsoever so they'll have to bought in bulk and have to support stronger Special and Rare units in battle.
Also their stats tend to be pretty average and they have very few equipment options.

Advantages: Cheap as chips!!!! the most expencive Core unit are the Chariots at 45 pts/model, all the rest are way below that.
With the exeption of mounts and a few units the whole army has the Furor Celtica special rule meaning you don't want these lads to be charging you.

Overall this list seems balanced out, it looks and reads like a normal Warhammer armybook.
The author has retained the Celtic style of fighting and added a nice touch of ancient Celt mythologie without going over the top.
It's also a good thing that if I grow tired of fantasy gaming for a while I can simply drop the Giants and the Pixies and the Fenbeasts and grab a copy of Hail Cesar and go kicking the Romans back to Rome giving me 2 armies for the price of 1, bargain!!
I've ordered a box of cavalery to add to the Core units, obviously a unit of Chariots will fid it's way into the army and the 2 infantery units will be bulked out in the near future.
A 1000 pts army will be build over the coming months and will be fielded against buddy 'Gaming Old Fart' Tomsche and his Cathay, mine's a Chop Choy special and a pint of the Black Stuff!!!