Stormin' Normans...

With the advent of the mooted Normans in Sicily/1st Crusade campaign on the horizon, I was tricked by Dave and John into buying decided to get some Normans on the painting bench, in order that I could take part properly, rather than using my much later Scots as proxies.

So far I've only managed to get the general finished and based, along with his standard bearer and loyal attendant/ evil henchman (depending on your viewpoint).

Baron D'Guyerre* (10 pts for spotting the movie reference...)

I also procured some Vikings (since that's my prime, if not only real, interest in dark age/early mediaeval forces) however, haven't made a start on them yet, since they'll be of limited utility in the campaign we have planned (unless there are some spectacularly unlucky dice rolls...). However, the dread fleet of Haakon the Bastard and Magnus Trollhammern should make an appearance at some point soon. Maybe...

Quite pleased with how these have turned out, if only that they don't somehow look especially "Norman", though hopefully the next few batches should remedy that. The bases were intended to be a bit of a compromise; I'd initially just intended on doing them in plain desert colours, but then thought that I would like them to be usable as Conquest era Normans against Dave's Saxons, John's pre-Feudal Scots and my Vikings, etc, so had to get some sort of greenery into them, without making them exclusively North West European looking. I think the trade off worked reasonably well. Like MTP, it doesn't blend in perfectly with temperate or desert settings, but doesn't look hopelessly out of place in either of those either.

However, I'm now engaged in a bit of a push to get some more Cold War Soviets done, so we'll see when the next batch of Normans gets finished...

Cheers
Iain


*In the fine tradition of "William the Bastard,", he was going simply be "Stephen the C*nt", but I decded against it.

Deus Vult!

Finally I have finished some of the Cavalry bases for the upcoming Invasion of Sicily campaign, which is busily morphing into an early Crusade campaign instead.

I am actually getting quite excited at the possibilities of this small campaign which will try out some very basic quickish play, campaign mechanics which we will home-brew and make use of small scale (DBA) type contacts to determine battle outcomes.

We are hoping this will allow a number of moves and battles to be carried out each time we manage to meet up so that the whole thing does not drag on too long. Also we hope to be able to run it all without the use of an Umpire. Also we need to allow for shifting alliances and dollops of treachery to take place!

Anyway back to the figures.

Cavalry are 15mm Old Glory, from their El-Cid range.

Later photos include associated Infantry which I have posted here before, but I think they look good together.

I have been experimenting with certain key colours to try to tie units together visually.

As always, any and all comments, pro and con, gratefully received.

Cheers.

David.

John's Gallery

A few months back I photographed some of John’s miniature collection for him up at the club. To my shame I’ve been unable to get these processed and put up any sooner! So, with apologies to Mr Hill, feast your eyes on some 15 & 28mm loveliness.

And one thing that’s important to understand before we go any further- there are no shield transfers or pre-printed banners anywhere in this article. Anywhere.  A true artist is our John…

15mm Hundred Years War

28mm  Hundred Years War

28mm Arthurian Command Group

28mm Ancient Egyptians

28mm Romans

These have got to be some of my favourite pieces that John’s done…

28mm Napoleonic French Marshalls

28mm Pictish Cavalry

Prickers! 28mm Tudor Cavalry

28mm Pictish Roundhouses

These are completely scratchbuilt and have to be seen to be believed!

28mm ECW Scottish Ensign

I fear I haven’t done this piece justice by a long shot. The standard is absolutely gorgeous…

John’s painting was one of my earliest inspirations to get back into wargaming after a hiatus of several years, and after several attempts to emulate his style, I gave up as it just wasn’t happening!

Cheers

Iain (on behalf of John)