28mm SAGA Warband - Age of Vikings - Norman

Thursday night was the first time in almost a year that I had my Norman Warband in action. Since they were readily available  I was able to photograph the units for the Blog. The Calvary were Black Tree Design Miniatures that I repurposed for SAGA. They were originally based for DBX games. The figures of Bishop Odo and William the Conqueror are from Footsore Miniatures and Games. The remaining infantry are from various manufacturers. Some were purchased 10 or 12 years ago and I simply don't remember where they were from.  

Bishop Odo and William the Conqueror

Hearth Guard

Mounted Norman Warriors

Two units of Norman Warriors on Foot

Levy Bowmen

Crossbowmen 8 Warrior or 12 Levy

Levy Spearmen

Levy Slingers - I need 4 more

All the infantry figures were painted between Sept 2023 and early 2024 in order to get this Warband onto the tabletop. Meeting up with the  Montreal Historical Wargaming Club put a focus back into my painting which had been dormant for almost two years.

Norman Knights (II)

I painted a unit of 12 Norman Knights during the summer of 2013. The figures were by Black Tree Design, and I was happy with the results. However their shields were pretty drab and the bases had not received their full treatment. This fall I placed an order to Gripping Beast to purchase a pack of their Norman shields and to order some  Little Big Man Studios ' transfers. I think the results speak for themselves. Something now has to be done about William the Bastard's banner.

Norman Knights

Another quick post. I recently finished painting a group of 12 Norman Knights. This is about 1/3 of the figures I need for a DBA army. I have blogged before about the infantry that I painted.

These figures are by Black Tree Design. I found them to be a very clean and easy to work with. I like the fact that the spears are incorporated into the figure. Shields need to be attached. I still haven't decided what to do about the shields. Do I paint them myself or do I order a sheet of decals? For this reason they are not attached. 

The standard bearer had the top half of the pole broken off. I removed the bottom half, drilled a hole through the figure's hand and added a replacement. The banner itself was downloaded from another gaming blog about 18 months ago. I cannot find the reference. Please let me know if it is your design and I will link to it.

I found the horses to be bigger than expected. I had to cut down the bases of two of them to fit on a 40mm deep DBA element. They still had to mounted at angles to insure a proper fit. It also took some trial and error to make  sure that the elements could line up together as the heads and tails of the horses extend quite a bit beyond the front and rear base edges. 

Regardless, I think these is a nice looking unit. 

HOTT: Robin Hood Part III, The Normans

Last month I blogged about some of the ideas I had for a Norman (Robin Hood) HOTT Army and expressed the comment that I would have to pick up some additional troops. Ross Macfarlane, a long standing friend and fellow gamer made an offer I could not refuse. He had in his possession some old Ral Partha Norman and Crusader figures that he offered to send to me. They went a long way into filling my missing troop types. I decide I would keep the figures as painted, but I rebased them. Merci Ross!!!

BTW According to Ross the Knights and Crossbow men were painted by Peter Crane.


Somes Ideas For a Norman (Robin Hood) HOTT Army

I now need to get some crossbowmen, mounted troops and a few individual figures. I think that the obvious characters that are needed for the Norman side include

Prince John, an obvious sneaker, who will steal your stronghold (throne) if you're not careful. I ordered a figure from Black Tree Miniatures that I think will serve as an excellent Prince John figure. It is a set of figure from their feudal line.  I also ordered a set of monks, which will provide a Frier Tuck figure.

FD1010 King Stephen, Queen Matilda, Henry II and Thomas A'Beckett

The Sheriff of Nottingham. The general in charge of the army.

I selected a figure with two lions on the shield. The High Sheriff of Nottinghamshire, Derbyshire and the Royal Forests existed between 1068 and 1449. In 1449 Nottingham appointed its own Sheriff. The position of Sheriff represnts Royal Authority in enforcing the law.

Sir Guy of Gisbourne

Sir Guy of Gisbourne (and according to Wikipedia also spelled Gisburne, Gisborne, Gysborne, or Gisborn). The hero of the Normans.

Dickon Malbete, a lurker.

In the movie "The Adventures of Robin Hood" Dickson is an assassin sent by Prince John to murder King Richard. In return he'd regain his lost rank.

The Lurker element on the left has Dickson enjoying a brew. perhaps in the presence of a disquised King Richard, while the element of Lurkers on the right, are two of the Merrie Men lying in wait in Sherwood Forest.

The Bishop of the Black Canons.

 A cleric, not neccessarily a good one, but a cleric none the less. On this Clerical Element the Bishop is joined in blessing a memeber of his flock, or is he about to crown Prince John, King?

 4 Elements of Crossbowmen/Shooters

Ross was kind enough to send a selection of mounted figures, some that represented the Norman invasion period and other figures that are more closely representative of the English Knights that were at the 2nd Crusade. I decided that with the selection provied that the Normans could field as part of the HOTT army two Elements of Knights or three Elements of Riders. The Sheriff of Nottingham Element could be either a Knight or Rider Element.

Two Elements of Knights

Three Elements of Riders.

HOTT: Robin Hood Part 2 The Normans

It has been a while since I have blogged. The summer has been good to me and I didn't do any work on my miniatures. I had the opportunity to play a massive HOTT (72 points per side) battle with Joseph when I was in Halifax.

Last year I mused about doing a 25/28mm Robin Hood (HOTT) Horde of The Things army. Ross commented with some ideas for the opposition and just before Christmas a pack of Revenge (Old Glory) Norman Heavy Infantry went up for auction on Ebay.

Four Elements of Spear

2nd View of Spear in column

The package contained 32 figures, most figures being spearmen, but it also included two casualties. These two figures were mounted on individual figures. The rest were divided into four elements of  4 Spear and 2 elements of 7 Hordes. I based this decision upon the actions and military effectiveness of the Norman troops as portrayed in various Robin Hood movies and TV shows.  I felt that two units of Hordes were not uncalled for and the DBM army lists for both the Western Norman lists and the Eastern Frankish lists in the DBM included (peasant) hordes.

Two Elements of 7 Hordes

The figures already included their weapons in hand, but the kite shield had to be attached. The shields came in two main types. One style being long and narrow and the other being a bit shorter and wider. I now have to come up with a couple of banners for the two standard bearers. I haven't found anything on the web that I am happy with yet. I may decide to go with the plain Jerusalem cross.

Casualties of War

Somes Ideas For a Norman (Robin Hood) HOTT Army

I now need to get some crossbowmen, mounted troops and a few individual figures. I think that the obvious characters that are needed for the Norman side include

Prince John, an obvious sneaker, who will steal your stronghold (throne) if you're not careful.

The Sheriff of Knottingham. The general in charge of the army.

Sir Guy of Gisbourne (and according to Wikipedia also spelled Gisburne, Gisborne, Gysborne, or Gisborn). The hero of the Normans.

Dickon Malbete, a lurker. In the movie "The Adventures of Robin Hood" Dickson is an assassin sent by Prince John to murder King Richard. In return he'll regain his lost rank.

The Bishop of the Black Canons. A cleric, not neccessarily a good one, but a cleric none the less.