Thursday, 1 April 2021

Norman Archers : Hastings

I have continued planning in my head Hastings 1066 and painting away. I know we needed some more Norman archers so picked these up as a Christmas present. I normally paint a maximum of 24 figures but stretched it here to the whole box which is 30 in one go on the basis that they are a very simple scheme.

Annoyingly as I wanted to base them in 6’s, for other potential rulesets you get five bases anyway I do have some more conquest archers, so may do them as well
Happy with the mass effect and of course they can pretty much play in any dark age army, there are a few head shops as some have picked up helmets from fallen enemies etc
I thought I would also get out all my Normans to see how I am doing, at the moment I can squeeze it to six infantry blocks, the archers, about the same number of crossbows, some additional mercenary generic Celtic types and 7 or so units of cavalry. Some of these are actually Saxons but as we know the ladybird book of history tells us the Saxons all fought on foot so they can double as Normans. At a pinch I also have a unit of Al Andalus infantry and they could hide at the back. I think this might be enough for a small version test game and I plan to check out how many Saxons I can muster.

Holiday weekend is planning  some more painting.

Matt 



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22 comments:

  1. Jonathan Freitag2 April 2021 at 00:17

    This is an impressive sight, Matt! Very well done!

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    1. Matt Crump2 April 2021 at 16:13

      Thanks Jon I slogged through them in the end.....deep breath more to come 😀

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  2. Neil Scott2 April 2021 at 04:09

    The archers look superb and the army as a wjole looks rather impressive

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    1. Matt Crump2 April 2021 at 16:14

      Thanks Neil, it is at least feeling like a proper force, hard not to feel I need a few more though !

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  3. DeanM2 April 2021 at 05:47

    Wow! Yes, very impressive amount of beautifully painted Dark Age figures, Matt! Inspiring as always.

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    1. Matt Crump2 April 2021 at 16:15

      Many thanks Dean....slow and steady and in the end an army is developing 😀

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  4. Michal DwarfCrypt2 April 2021 at 06:20

    Lovely work!

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  5. Norm2 April 2021 at 07:04

    A hefty number to pass over the painting table, but a smashing impact at the end of it. very much looking forward to the Hastings project unfolding. Victrix sent me an e-mail a couple of days ago showing their new Norman mounted ...... they are exquisite!

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    1. Matt Crump2 April 2021 at 16:16

      Thanks Norm, yes I got the Victrix email as well and am pretty taken by their cavalry, especially as you can have Al Andalus heads...that is feeling like a nice idea !

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  6. Steve J.2 April 2021 at 08:03

    Very impressive Matt and look forward to seeing them in action on the games table.

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    1. Matt Crump2 April 2021 at 16:17

      Thanks Steve........more to come before they can all get on the battlefield together

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  7. Aly Morrison2 April 2021 at 13:18

    Splendid stuff Matt...
    And very tempting...I have been listening to Lars Brownworth’s Norman Centurys and 12 Byzantine Rulers podcasts... my wargames butterfly doesn’t know what to do with itself.

    https://larsbrownworth.com/

    All the best. Aly

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    1. Matt Crump2 April 2021 at 16:19

      Thanks Aly, my dark age figures started with a small skirmish saga army and now I have Saxons, Normans, Vikings and of course my Al Andalus stuff, who knows where the butterfly will land. If the secret truth be known mine has landed in the Pennisular around 1809 !

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  8. Phil Robinson2 April 2021 at 16:12

    Now that's what I call massed archery, great production there Matt.

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    1. Matt Crump2 April 2021 at 16:19

      Thanks Phil we might just squeeze a few of these into battle for Sunday 😀

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  9. rross2 April 2021 at 19:39

    A great job on the archers Matt and the army as a whole does look good...more cavalry may be in order though? We played a Hastings game on our week long wargaming escape a few years back, using To the Strongest, and the Breton Light Cavalry were wiped out to a man!

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  10. Stew2 April 2021 at 23:54

    30 in one go is a lot. Congratulations on getting them done. Your Norman army is impressive. It’s always a fun sight to get all your troops together for a group picture. 😀

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  11. caveadsum14713 April 2021 at 19:08

    30 great looking archers and lovely basing, are these the conquest plastic or someone else?
    Best Iain

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    1. Matt Crump3 April 2021 at 20:03

      Thanks Iain these are the Gripping beast plastics. My only complaint is the slight lack of variation ? For little effort they could have given a couple more variations but they are a good price and pretty easy to paint up 👍

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  12. Stuart S4 April 2021 at 07:41

    These look great Matt, I fear plenty more cavalry are on the cards.
    Cheers
    Stu

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  13. David4 April 2021 at 10:31

    One in the eye for Harold then! Nice work on the archers!

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