So you like the look of Pillage, eh? Want to set fire to villages, steal goats, get beaten up by sheep, stung to death by bees, and fight cinematic skirmish combat in the Viking age? Good. You should. Alongside the Pillage rulebook, Victrix have launched a set of four sets combining their early Medieval ranges into get starting sets perfect for those new to Historicals – or new to the period.
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Methodology
This isn’t a kit review as such – we’ve covered nigh on every kit in these bags already so do check out the reviews when linked below! – but a look at these sets as starter packs for Pillage (and Saga). The four currently released sets cover three of the major factions in the Pillage rulebook – Saxons, Normans, Vikings – and, for some reason, the Vikings-in-Russia, the Rus. We’ll have a look at what you get, if they’re a solid choice for the faction, and how they work in Pillage.
These are all high-quality, fantastically detailed multi-part plastic models that will be a pleasure to build and paint.
Normans
Of all the sets, this is undoubtedly the most useful one. Victrix have a fantastically comprehensive Norman range, which means models are split over five kits – Armoured and Unarmoured Cavalry, Infantry, Archers and Crossbows. If you were mad enough to pick up each of the kits individually (I was) you’re going to end up with 24 cavalry and 100 infantry – quite a bit more than you need for Pillage!
Check out our reviews for the Norman Infantry and Cavalry here.
Instead, picking up the Norman Pillage box will give you a wide selection from the range – 8 Armoured and 8 Unarmoured Infantry, 4 Mounted, heavily armoured, Knights and 6 Crossbowmen. On top of that, you’ll get 6 Command models which could be used as Warlords or Standard bearers, or boost up your armoured and unarmoured infantry (4 mail and 2 leather-armed bodies per sprue).
Picking up this set for Pillage will give you more than enough for a warband – the Mounted Knights alone (heavy armour, shields, spears) will set you back 135gp, while a solid block of fully armoured infantry on top of those will fill a 500gp list. There’s nothing else to even recommend picking up – Foot and Mounted warlords (and standard bearers) are both possible in this bag, and the crossbows more than make up for your lack of bows. It’ll work as a powerful, fast and very hard hitting list, especially if you invest in Norman talents to armour up your horses!
If you’re thinking more about Saga, the bag provides four points straight off – two warriors, one hearthguard (mounted), one hearthguard (on foot), and if you’re able to do a bit of kitbashing with the command sprue and crossbows, one point of warriors with crossbows as well. You probably want more mounted Normans to go to six points, so grab the big bag of Armoured or Unarmoured Norman Knights and you’re all good to go!
Saxons
Saxons are another range with multiple kits – The standard Late Saxon infantry, the more heavily armed Huscarls and the Dark Ages archer/slingers kit. The Pillage starter throws in a sprue of the Unarmoured Norman knights, with the instruction to kitbash with Saxon parts to make Saxon cavalry. Picking all that up in separate bags ends up in a similar hundred+ model army. Check out our Anglo Saxon/Anglo Dane kit review here.Â
The Pillage Saxon starter gets you 8 Armoured and 8 Unarmoured Infantry, 4 unarmoured cavalry, 6 Archers (or slingers) and 6 Command figures usable as Warlords, Standard Bearers, a Monk and Huscarls with Dane Axes.
There’s a couple of ways you can go with this set for Pillage. You could go down the classic Saxon Fyrd route, with a huge block of cheap some-armoured swordsmen and spearmen in shield wall formation backed up by incredibly cheap slingers. Anchor them with a Healer and a Warlord with the Relic Bearer trait and you are not going anywhere.
The other route is packing as many Huscarls as possible – heavily armoured warriors with two-handed Dane Axes and Swords. Huscarls can inspire blocks of troops to move quicker, swing their axes without penalty and switch between weapons at will, allowing them to act as hammer and anvil. A fully tooled up Huscarl (and you can make four out of the pack) can cost up to 75gp, so this is a very elite route if you want to go for it.
It’s not a great get for Saga – if you’re using them for Anglo Saxons you’re not getting enough warriors and bowmen, and for Anglo-Danes you don’t have a mounted option. You’re probably better off getting the Late Saxon/Anglo Dane Skirmish Pack, with the Dark Age archers to bulk out your levies.
Vikings
When the game is called Pillage, everyone is going to want Vikings, right? The archetypical pillagers are set up well in the Viking Warband set, with an amount of vikings I’d describe as “an absolute shedload”. You get a command sprue – Warlord, Standard Bearer and Four Berserkers – 24 Vikings (split into 12 armoured and unarmoured) and 6 archers or slingers, covered in our review here. That’s a lot of Vikings!
It’s a solid starter for Pillage, adding a sprue of archers/slingers in to the general Viking bag. You can make some very versatile lists, loading up on Berserkers who, much like Huscarls, are terrifying combat opponents, skipping defence rolls for opponents altogether and can chow down on some magic mushrooms to push themselves up to truly horrific levels of combat ability. They’re very expensive, so following them up with lighter armoured Vikings and cheap bowmen will be a solid strategy. The Berserkers break down the opposition and the rest of the gang steal the loot and run back to the longships!
It’s a good starter set, but would it not be better to just buy more Vikings? That’s a legit question – you could spend a little more (4 quid at time of writing) to go from 36 to 60 Vikings. The larger Viking bag – the only one you need – also gives you two Berserker/Command sprues as well. You’re missing out on the slingers/archers, but of all the factions in Pillage so far Vikings absolutely need them least – just get the big bag of Vikings, as then you’ve got a full Saga warband too!
Rus
Coming in out of the East from the trading posts of the Volga, the Rus are the eastern cousins of the Vikings – a far flung trading, raiding and settling outpost. They’re not in the Pillage core book, but Victrix have (already!) put out an Eastern themed set of additional lists covering the Rus, Magyars and Byzantines (very exciting stuff). The Rus are a recent set we reviewed here.Â
The Rus Warband contains a solid 36 figures – 12 Armoured Warriors (which can be made as Warlord and Standard Bearers), 18 unarmoured warriors and 6 Archers/Slingers.
The Rus have additional rules for Dane Axes – so use those Armoured Warriors – and a fantastic spear-wall rule. Building as many unarmoured warriors with shields and spears as you can (so, all of them), and your armoured warriors as two-handed dane axe wielders, or with two hand weapons. Rus Berserkers are absolutely goddamn terrifying (and expensive), while their archers are very standard but also very expensive. This is definitely a list where you can go into very very powerful linebreakers, or a horrifically solid shield wall.
However! It’s another one where you probably don’t need this starter set because the larger Victrix Rus bag is absolutely fantastic. 48 warriors (instead of 36) and again although you’re missing out on the archers, Rus archers are so incredibly expensive in gold pieces that I’d put your trust in Berserkers and shieldwalls instead.
Transfers
If you’re picking up one of these starter sets, do yourselves a favour and pick up a set of transfers to go along with them – shields definitely, banners if you’re feeling flashy! Every time we’ve covered one of the Little Big Men Studios transfers we’ve enjoyed them, and they add a huge amount of detail, colour and quality to your models. Unless you’re a mad freehand artist (in which case, go off, king/queen/themperor), it’s well worth picking up a set to save you a huge amount of time in getting battle ready. There are specific sets for Vikings, Rus, Normans and Anglo Saxons, and no wrong choices for colours!
Overall
While all these bags are pretty great, the Saxon and Norman ones are the best for starting Pillage, giving you a broad range of different models that work well together for medium to large games of Pillage. All four sets give you more models than you’d need for good sized games, making them very much a one-stop-shop for getting started with the game, but in the case of the Vikings and Rus, you should push it just a bit further and go for the big bag, which will give you every model you’ll need for even the largest battles.
If you’re interested in Pillage and want to get into Historicals, any of these bags are great. For variety and interest, the Saxons and Normans have the most potential, translating well to Saga and Barons’ War Conquest. Having said that, no-one ever regrets picking up 60 Vikings instead of 36!
If you want to pick up one of these sets, or a giant bag of Vikings, why not support Goonhammer at the same time through our affiliate link?
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