Projekt Veenaland

 Projekt Veenaland (The Meadowlands Project)

    This is a bit of an odd post in that it is the first of a series looking at a project from its very beginning, from planning to completion. Apart from anything else, it's one of my rare forays into something other than the Napoleonic period.

  I love this Footsore Miniatures figure of Odin. I've painted him in his usual attire of unassuming blues and greys and added Freki and Geri from the Northstar figures wolf pack. I'm really pleased with the way the model came out, though I must say, I never thought I'd find myself researching colour schemes for things like wolves, viking sheep and chickens! 
   

 The idea of the Veenaland project is to build a game set in the high age of the Norse gods -basically a historical rather than fantasy game, but a history where peoples lives are touched by the gods -either their own or others, where fates (or wyrds) are real and the Norns spin the tales of mens' lives. Veenaland - taken from Thomas Holt's fantastic book "Meadowland" is based on the theory that "Vinland" is a mistranslation of the word for meadow, replacing "veen" with "vin."

    I don't want the game to be simply a skirmish wargame but more an almost RPG campaign game centred round ships crews. Yes, I know there are already games like that, but I like to do things for myself. What I want is a game where players build up their crews and wealth through trading, raiding and building, where the crews aren't simply figures, but represent characters who may become heroes. I can see it in my mind's eye!    

 

  The clear first choice is how large the world in which the game is set should be. Should it be the whole of the Norse world or smaller? Obviously both have their advantages and disadvantages. Should it even be set in what we SEE as the "Viking World?" The game could just as easily be a sort of "Bjorn in the USA" (ouch!) scenario.

    There are myths or legends that when the Norse -I hesitate to call them "Vikings"- first arrived in North America, they discovered Irish monks farming alongside the Indians. Now these Irish were said to have crossed the Atlantic in one of two ways. the first was that they had used boats made of animal skins - precursors of the curraghs of the Irish West Coast, and, secondly that they had crossed in boats made of stone. Of course THAT was just a little too hard to believe in the days before iron ships and ferro-concrete racing yachts. So you see, it is possible to build the game almost entirely in North West Europe and the North East of America, with the protagonists being the Norse, the Irish and the "First of the Mohegans." Being a "son of death" -a mixture of Gael and Norse- myself, I quite like that idea but we'll see where the project takes us.

      Of course, whatever happens, our heroes will need someone to record their deeds, so "The Minstrel Boy", Bard or Skjald will be around to ensure their fame lives on.