Normans in Italy Pt 3

 

Now that the Lombards are finished, for now...  I started on my next army, the main opponents of my future Normans, the Byzantines.  While reading up on Byzantium during this time, I quickly realized that I wanted to follow the rule of cool and add whatever I wanted while keeping it relatively historical.  This army is mainly made up from Fireforge Games with some Victrix, Crusader, and Gripping Beast added to the mix.  One of the traits of the army was that the units combined missile troops in the back rows of the formation.  I pondered on how to show this in the units sizes for Hail Caesar.  I feel like I came up with an adequate solution. 

First up are the Kontaratoi.  For the first unit, I wanted to make a large unit so it has 4 bases instead of the normal 3.  I read somewhere that by this time, archery across the board had declined.  Not that people stopped using the bow, they just were not that good.  To represent this visually, I mixed in some slings as these were easier to use. 

Next, I wanted to add some variety to the army.  To represent some mercenary tribesmen, I mixed some Victrix Rus and Saxons.  I like the "not from around here" vibe they give off. 

Finally, what Byzantine army would be complete without some Varangians?  This unit was made up from Crusader and Gripping Beast metal Varangians.  I could have used Victrix Rus but I like the look of more "civilized" Varangians. Of both the Lombards and the Byzantines, this is the only unit to use shield transfers, the rest are hand painted.   

Up next are the mounted units.  Thanks for looking.

Justin

Normans in Italy Pt 2

Well, here are the rest of the Lombards. First up were a test group for me.  I wanted some generic Holy Roman Empire troops.  Just a small unit from a very minor German state that sent some troops to help the Pope in his struggles with the Normans.  I believe they are a mix of WGA Late Romans with some Goth heads added, Gripping Beast Vikings, and the odd head from the Oathmark humans.  In Hail Caesar, they would be a small unit. 

Next is a unit of Swabians.  I knew ever since I read about this unit and how they fought that I had to add them to the army roster.  They are made up of Gripping Beast metal Anglo-Danes with their hands removed and sword hands from GW added.  The Empire soldier sword was just the right size for a hand and a half sword for these guys.  Still need to add a banner to this unit. 

Next is a unit of generic troops.  They are made from Gripping Beast plastic Dark Age Warriors, a  criminally under rated box, and some Dark Age Irish.  There are a few Victrix heads thrown in to add some variety.  The mix of the two units adds to the look of a hastily raised unit of poor farmers to stop the Norman advance.

While I was looking at what to add to the army, I came across a small box that had a bunch of peasants that I put away awhile back.  When I saw that the command sprue of the Victrix Saxons had a priest, I knew that I had to make a unit of peasants.   Most are Black Tree Designs with a health mix of plastic peasants from some board game that I had kicking around.  A few weapon swaps later, boom, a peasant rabble unit to anchor your battle line... or, more likely, to act as a speed bump for heavy horse.  

The last unit is from Conquest Games and represent light horse armed with javelins.  I just cut down the lance to the correct size and added a few more to the off hands.  Easy peasy.  These Conquest Games Normans do paint up nice.  

Finally, the command bases.  In Hail Caesar, the command base size does not matter.  I went back and forth on the size and how to portray the division commanders.  Eventually, I decided on 4 figures for foot and 2 for mounted.  Still need to print the sabot base for the mounted command.  The foot are from Victrix Saxon box and the mounted are spares from the Conquest Games Norman box. 

The shields are all hand painted.  I contemplated about buys transfers but I wanted to spend that money on more figures!  All the sabot bases were 3D designed by me in tinkercad and printed on my 3D printer.  This basing method allows me base the figures individually, for other games like Pillage, and also use large basing for Hail Caesar.  I spent a lot of time looking at how people based their armies and really like the multi figured bases used by Martin over at 7th Son, but could not get completely away from single basing.  This, I feel, is a great compromise. 

Next up are the Byzantines.  Let me know what you think!

Justin

 

Normans in Italy

Man, I need to be better about posting!  Real life can really get in the way of the hobby.  Anyways, I'm planning to posting a little more to help keep my motivation going and make me stick to my tasks and not get sidetracked by the next shinny thing. I was finally able to take some pictures of what I've been up too this last year, and it's a whole new project... Normans in Italy. 

I've always loved the early Medieval/late Dark Age period.  Mounted knights in chainmail, kite shields, big charges across a field.  One day I was reading about the Norman invasion of England and saw an article about the other Norman invasion, the invasion of Southern Italy.  After reading a few more books about it, I quickly realized that this has everything I like about the period!  I quickly started to research figure manufacturers and what rules to game with.  This is where the algorithm on YouTube came in.  One night I was was watching terrain making videos and saw a video from the "7th Son" channel.  He was just starting to game the 1st Crusade with Black Powder, the very rules I was thinking of using.  Going back and watching all his videos, and I do mean all, I was pumped to get started.  Now I just needed to gather the troops. 

I was planning on having Normans, of course, their sometimes allies/foes the Lombards, their mostly foes, the Byzantines, and their sometimes allies/foes the Muslims of Sicily.  This is why I love this time period.  All four groups either fought for or against each other so I can make smaller armies and combine one or two to make larger battles if needed.  As I was still unsure on the unit sizes and basing, I didn't want to start with the Normans so I decided to start with the Lombards, Norman lite. 

As I wanted them to look a little different from the Victrix Normans I decided to go with Conquest Games.  These were easy to put together and paint.  I also wanted to add some Swabian troops and some other HRE troops that hypothetically could have assisted the Lombard cause.  I also wanted to try something new to me, Contrast/Speed paints. 

Anyways, enough talk, more pics!  

First up are some Conquest Games Normans based as infantry armed with spears

Next are some Conquest Games Medieval archers

Finally, Conquest Games Norman Knights as heavy cavalry

Well, that's all for now.  I have some more pictures coming soon.  Please let me know what you think!