I wrote this based off of Dark Age Genesis. I have not played Dark Age Apocalypse yet, so the modern version of Saint Mark and his warband may be very different. All miniatures painted by the incredible punkrabbit.

Saint Mark: Everyone Must Stand Alone

My Dark Age faction of choice is Forsaken and my saint of choice is Saint Mark. No other faction leader touches me so deeply and in such a strong way. In fact, Saint Mark is putting on false modesty to be called a saint. His weapon has it right: God’s Light. My Saint Mark Warband won me the Players’ Appreciation Tournament at CONquest Vegas in 2008. Saint Mark has an incredibly deep range of 80cm with God’s Light and if anyone gets up in his face he has both his Cutter Arm and his Armor of 22 to save him. He also needs that Armor 22 for when God’s Light Malfunctions. I make sure to risk that second Mal of 16. To me, if Saint Mark is not taking two shots each round something is really wrong. Or the game is about to end.

I have both versions of the figure and prefer the masked version. Others in his force match him this way and it is just a better sculpt. His unmasked self looks a little inhuman and if you read his fluff, you know he’s very human.

And with a nickname of “Saint Coward”, how can Craven Games not love him? While his troops know that he surpasses Saint John, Saint Mary, and Saint Theresa in his holiness, his (defeated) opponents like to call him names after he has incinerated them with God’s Light from across the table.

His Blessed Lieutenants

Warwind aka Ninja aka Commander

After Saint Mark, the next commander figure I look for in any list is a Warwind. There’s a trend here: uber models with high point costs and 4 AP each. The Warwind has decent Armor 18 and the very low 2 Defense. That and Furious Charge; Never Panic; Never Fear; Tough as Nails. Saint Mark can’t say the same. Saint Mark might run away. Your Warwind is going to try to stick around with his 2 HP. The ranged weapon, Brimstone, has its uses, but I want that Furious Charge bonus and I want the two katana attacks from Weapon Group 1. Because the cape on the original Warwind is so crazy, I use the second sculpt.

Weaponsmith

Saint Mark’s fluff mentions Weaponsmiths several times. I’ve used Saint Mark without a Weaponsmith numerous times, so a Weaponsmith is not really essential. I view him as some icing on the cake. I would never take him if there were nothing to use Superior Maintenance on though. This ability which allows him to place counters on figures at the start of the game is very useful. Typically I place one on Saint Mark, one on another invidividual, and then one on the Weaponsmith as well. Yeah, he can use it because he uses God’s Wrath Rifle, the distant cousin of God’s Light. It’s only Power 6, but you get three shots with it per AP since it is RF -. Plus its Range is 40. The sculpt of the figure is alright, but ranks towards the bottom of Forsake sculpts. The cactus on his base comes from an Imex set, I believe.

Field Medic

I prefer my Field Medic to the Sister of Compassion but oftentimes end up taking both. They both have healing effects, but I would rather not Numb my troops and lower their abilities but instead tell them “Hang in there boys!” and “It’s just a flesh wound!” She is incredibly useful, has 2 HP and 4 AP. I try to keep her well positioned. Her scalpel weapon is a joke. Her other abilities are not.

Her figure’s face was too ovoid. It reminds me of Jocasta from Marvel Comics so I asked punkrabbit to give her a spiked face mask like Saint Mark’s and he did a wonderful job. The cactus is from an Imex set, if I remember correctly with green-stuffed base.

Sister of Compassion

This figure gets a lot of attention because of her thong-like leotard. She gets a lot of play from me because she is almost as useful as her more properly-clad cousin, the Field Medic. Her Needle Fist is actually a competent attack as she has AS 5 with it and its Power 6 with a Range of 30 and causes Numb.

Her base is Epicast, her look Lady Gaga.

Nathaniel & Orchid

This pair is pretty characterful. I almost always field them in larger games. AP 4 figures are always useful. I feel that they tend to get in combat a lot less than my Warwind, despite having Furious Charge and Superior Ganging Up. They have the same Defense of 2 of a Warwind. Nathaniel’s AS of 9 with his Claymore is damn useful. He tends to die first though, leaving his sister to amass more kills.

I love Orchid’s sculpt, but they both are pretty dynamic and are rocking the spiked helmet look I so admire. I based them on 25mm bases so I could use them in games of 28mm Inquisitor or asInquisitorial henchmen in games of 40k. Their cloaks are painted the same sky blue as St. John’s, because they are also usable with his warband.

Bounty Huntress

I hate this figure. She looks so out of place in the junk and refuse filled world of Samaria. She doesn’t match the artwork and is pretty lame. However I think punkrabbit did a great job with her. As much as I don’t care for the model, I have used her in a number of games. Oftentimes she gets that third Superior Maintenance counter because her Ranged attack has an RN of 40 and she’s AS 7 with it with a RF of 2. With her 4 AP she gets 2 Aimed shots a turn with it. Now we’re cooking. Tracking is so so. Yes, it has an effect, but it never is game-changing for me.

Dedlock

I may have used my Dedlock once. The figure is incredibly cool. She probably has been purchased by a lot of miniature fans who will never play Dark Age. The problem is that she has a high Points Value of 86 and for that you get a close up Banger-style weapon. Her ranged AS of 7 makes me want to take a second look about including her in my forces again. Spray and Pray however does not. I probably would be using Saint Mark and the Weaponsmith both with longer Ranges. She is mid-range and not incredible in hand to hand. Defense of 2 is, again, wonderful. If I knew my opponent was fielding Skarrd, I’d probably test her out again.

And His Righteous Troops

Banes

He may not have that special tender relationship that Saint John has with them, but Saint Mark (under my command) repeatedly makes use of his Banes. Banes have a respectable Armor 18 and are AS 6 with their Double Maces which get two attacks in Attack Group 1. They have no ranged combat, but the Maces which are only Power 4 cause KP(8). Their saving grace is probably that double attack. Once the whole unit starts attacking another unit, things are going down, and going down fast. This is probably true of many other factions’ main attack units, but with the exception of a few games as Dragyri, I haven’t played as other factions.

Strike

My Strike have seen almost as much play time as my Banes. They are ninjas, both in sculpt, and in stats. You pay for it too, at 75 points for the leader and 70 for the “basic” troop. These are essentially a unit of Forsaken characters with AP 4 Mv 4 and 2 HP. They also have that Warwind ninja 2 Defense. Where they really start to shine is up close with the enemy, which is where you want them with their Furious Charge. Facing lightly armored infantry? Go with the dual Spiked Gauntlets attacks. The PW is 2×2. If both attacks hit, which is at AS 6 for the basic Strike, your opponent is making 4 Armor saves. That’s them starting to shine. They flare up on your opponents’ big brutes with their other Attack Group: 2 Handed Sword. The leader has 9 AS with it! The trooper 8. Don’t forget Furious Charge bonuses or ganging up when it probably hits for its 6×2 PW. I count on the Strike to take out Dragyri elites, Ice Arbiters, Ice Elementals, Raze, Golabs, and other big meanies. They do not disappoint. With Armor 14, they also go down pretty quick, but I did introduce you to the Field Medic, yes?

These models are cool and I have them on 25mm bases to use as auxiillary Death Cult Assassins.

Firestorm

Given my preference for 4 AP models with 2+ HP, my Firestorm have seen very little use. That and they go KABOOM. I can see their usefulness if I was certain to face Brood (with Cauterize on their Flame Throwers), but I find them to be too much of a liability for my liking.

I think I asked punkrabbit to paint them as though wearing jumpsuits and I think the effect turned out pretty good.

Ravages

I like how Ravages look like Banes, especially how punkrabbit painted mine. In games I have used them more than Firestorm, but only to test them out and as points filler and how expensive they are as points filler! For 82 or 77 points I can get something much better. Also I confess that I always get fuzzy about Indirect ranged attacks and that BL(4) and BL(2) are just so teeny tiny as to not be worth it in my book.

All the Rest

I have a Reaver. She’s so slight of build and prone to damage that she needs a real life Field Medic to look her over. I have a Shade that’s not seen any progress in years, despite loving the sculpt. The Junker has interesting stats, but I think she suffers from ease of extreme damage on the miniature.The Coils! Where are your Coils?! Yes, Saint Mark can Take Charge (Coils), but I don’t care for most of their sculpts. The concept behind them is cool enough, but the execution is not to my liking. This one that is painted is based on an Epicast base. I like how extremely forward I put it. Where is her coil weapon, the disc shooter? They are just oddly done.

For the Forsaken though and especially Saint Mark I am a completionist and will eventually get all of their models.

2008 Players Appreciation Tournament Winning List

Saint Mark
Warwind
Weaponsmith
Field Medic
Bane Leader with Banes (4)
Nathaniel & Orchid