Tag: normans

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Military History norman conquest

Anyone for tapestry?

September is a busy month for battle anniversaries in Yorkshire not least in 1066.

On the 20th the Vikings of King Harald defeated the Saxons of Earls Edwin and Morcar at Germany Beck in what is now Fulford. There are not many references to this battle – given that two climatic battles followed, its understandable.

The battle was according to records fought near where the beck joins a sharp turn in the river Ouse.

Crucially the defeated Saxons made good their escape as a rising tide flooded the beck. This meant they could fight another day.

There is a tapestry of the Fulford battle displayed at various locations over the years since it was made in 2012 after ten years effort!

On the 25th September the Saxons under King Harold of England defeated Harald and the Viking host at Stamford Bridge.

It was the end of the Scandinavian Viking threat after hundreds of years of invasion.

A tapestry of the Stamford Bridge battle can be seen in the old railway station at Stamford Bridge.

It was another Viking Scion – the Norsemen who took land in the Carolingian Empire and called it Normandy – who a few generations later then defeated the English in turn at Hastings.

It can be argued that without Fulford and Stamford Bridge there would have been no Hastings and maybe a different war between Harold and William might have played out.

So maybe instead of waiting for yet another Norman invasion (the bayeaux tapestry is en route to the UK) you could visit these other tapestries when they are on show instead or as well as.

People remember William for what followed yet Harold had marched 500 miles with his household troops and won a great victory putting together two separate regional armies before arriving at Hastings: William fought an outstanding adversary.

Back in 2020 I put together some shield wall armies and had some fun trying out various rules.

https://thewargamingerratic.home.blog/2020/09/06/prelude-to-wargames-rules-tested/

Categories
life Scenery

Castles of the Giro 2024

Here are some more castles or rather famous palaces, Roman Pompei and yet more medieval bastions….Cassini and Naples today.

Categories
life Scenery

Giro Castles 2024 Castello di Vicalvi

Here is one castle that fell under eye of the giro pro cycling helicopter. A classic hilltop location. It still has some nice details especially the main gateway area.

Categories
life Scenery

Giro Castles 2024

Late Spring sees the first of three top pro cycling events – the Giro d’Italia which are helicopter televised from start to finish.

This means you get about 4000 km of Italian countryside.

And with Italy that means castles.

Fortified cities are also favourite visits on two wheels
This year saw a couple of stretches of the white gravel of Tuscany
Everyday the cyclists head out castle hunting!
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normans in the south

First Strelets 1/72 Normans are complete

So these first two bases of Norman cavalry have their slightly arid ground cover and bit of green vegetation to liven things up. The base style comes from Impetus ideas about using the greater space to create more of a diorama look instead of the serried ranks style. It works for these Normans I think.
A nice variety of weaponry and also other equipment means these chaps can also become Carolingian and Ottonians
A nominal couched lance is provided although the helmet is a puzzle. All coat d’arms horse colours are on show
Categories
normans in the south

Norman Cavalry arrive

So after that quick intermission for some Saxons, more of them in another post, I am back on the horsemen of the dark ages (ok the back end) – the much vaunted Normans. Well you will not get too many couched lances here as strelets 1/72 norman cavalry are a mixed bag and actually lend themselves to Frankish armies generally.

Some were primed with pva which cracked so they like their comrades are in vallejo grey primer followed by blacking out the metallics and then some coat d’arms horse colours which having only recently been discovered have proven their value to me already.
I found the vallejo grey to be a good base for these cavalry and the coat d’arms horse colours give a mottled coverage
I tend to have quite a few horses with black stockings – more coat d’arms horse colours on show
on the left some PVA cracking overpainted but even so you can see the strelets figures still have some reasonable detail
The horseman on the left corner shown in previous photos is now complete, varnished and based, justing waiting a final ground highlight plus some vegetation
Categories
metal miniatures

Garrison Vikings and Normans

Having got the 1/72 strelets Normans going, I decided to search out my old 20/25mm metal figures from long ago. The idea was to see whether they could be used alongside my plastics.

Specifically I was looking for some small Garrisons Normans. These were bought in the late 1970’s. At the time it was Garrisons new 25mm Viking’s which caught my eye. I bought the Normans at the same time all on impulse. They were actually for dungeons and dragons gaming as well as skirmish gaming. Big battles were in theory Macedonia versus Persia although the armies were never completed.

Garrison Vikings painted plus their Normans bought together in the late 1970’s

So it just happened that the Garrison Normans were shorter than their new Viking mates. I think this was the moment when 20mm, 1/72 and 25mm were going their separate ways. Well 20 mm had already stayed where it was while 1/72 and 25mm just about lived with each other yet 25mm was getting taller. But in these photos you can see the height, bulk and style difference within the same makers existing ranges. There is nothing new under sun – least of all scale creep!

The norman figures came with loose weapons and the design seemed to lend itself to less flash.
The vikings were more open although the Norman spearman was far less contrived yet still a classic stance.
The vikings did have one weakness – they were quite two dimensional – good as they rush forward but again probably designed to help the casting

For my money the garrison Vikings were up there with Citadel castings. Top notch on detail. And probably heading towards the few well painted skirmish figures collection or D&D idea.

Spot the citadel knight and yes mounted vikings – just what you need for D&D – our games ranged over the countryside fairly early on!
I really like the citadel horse, less so the Garrison one
As you can see I had primer confusion going on. Actually I painted my horses in artists gouche or washed out enamels over white. I used black for the predominantly armoured soldiers.
These have made it to a painting stick a mere 40 years late! I might even finish them although sadly the vikings will just not match up with the strelets plastics. I might do better with the normans.

The normans though were from the mid seventies figure style – a good wargame figure for army games.

ok so I can’t explain the soldiers being in different primer styles!
These chaps will make it into a unit as giants amongst their strelets cousins
ok these two axemen look classic 1970’s – slight bodies with large heads. And whats that monster on the right – yes its a Lamming Norman – but thats another story.
I really will have to sort out the priming………….

As it happened the Vikings never made the D&D games while the Normans were parked after undercoating. My wargaming days ended – well for about 15 years.

When I returned in the mid 1990’s it was all DBA, acrylics and 15mm.

Categories
norman conquest

Another Digression

Not content with “off piste” in my last post I am looking at books in this post. The thread of wargaming is still there and my current painting enthusiasm waxes and wains around what I am reading.

To sustain a period of painting I need the books to back it up. Until recently the Normans had been a period admired from a distance but avoided. My interests at best for the years 500-1200AD were mostly Byzantine. One of my favourite authors has been John Julius Norwich. He wrote Normans in Sicily many years ago and it is still recommended reading. This book had always been on the edge of my reading list not least because the Mediterranean Normans appear in other books by John Julius Norwich – notably the Middle Sea.

So my interest kept returning to Southern Italy and this period. It was not a large step to head north to Normandy and then England. I have begun to read more about the Normans in England. Previously I had just given a nod to Hastings.

A visit to Sicily furthered my interests. The multi ethnic multi religious nature of the Normans in Sicily seems unique for the period. Then a speculative purchase found in a discount bookstore got me reading about the Normans in a broader context.

“A brief History of the Normans: The conquest that changed the face of Europe by Francois Neveux caught me eye. Francois being Professor of History at Caen University was well placed to talk about the people of that area.

Published by the Little Brown Book Group in 2005 ISBN10 – 1845295234.

The book starts well before the Normans could even claim Normandy. And in this sense I enjoyed this particular book linking as it did the Carolingian era to that of Normandy and the rise of France.

In fact the chapters before Hastings were a mine of information and written in a way that kept me turning the pages rapidly. Somehow after that the story line lost its edge although it was still an enjoyable read.

My next foray into the period was on the Saxon side. Edward the Exile, son of Edmund II Ironside, the potential heir returning to England in August 1057 was killed within 2 days of his landing. Its author Gabriel Ronay made the pre-Hastings era an interesting and broader story than simply Harold versus William.

Both these books offer a more European perspective of the English problem of succession.

The book finishes with more Saxon aspects of Williams conquest

And then I picked up Marc Morris’s Norman Conquest. I hoped I would enjoy his story and I have not been disappointed. Suitably detailed, the narrative moves along quickly without becoming superficial.

The James Aitcheson Trilogy of historic fiction I found by pure accident. I picked up the second part in a charity shop and then bought the first book on kindle.

Not a great fan of historic fiction stories the trilogy covers a rather overlooked period post invasion. The author reveals his historian first author second character. Some good observation of the period makes the story settings believable and engaging. The whole story line though is incredulous – hang on this is fiction though – and the main characters move around a bit too easily. The very modern conversation style mixed with using old Saxon and Welsh place names did not really work for me.

Given these fiction books are the first ones I have finished in a long time thats a compliment. And at least the cover picture is of the period – too many historical books having sloppy front covers simply then disappoints me on reading as well.

Right now I am reading some modern travelogue – fingers crossed my Norman painting does not dry up.

Categories
basing

Basing Normans in the South

Having explained my latest approach to basing I should say that my wargaming choices are very modest. In fact the whole plastic figure thing was aimed at “keep it simple”. And that goes for painting and finishing – simple acrylics mainly block painting and gloss varnish. my figures are intended to be handled and mostly viewed at 3 feet or 1 metre away.

Even my Wars of the Roses 28mm figures have received such treatment although I did some flesh/clothing washes here and there. And they felt a bit questionable – “was the effort worth it?” well thats more about my painting skills/impatience I think and not the technique being worthwhile.

And when it comes to plastic I seem to have moved to the point  where a bad Plastic Soldier Review will encourage me to buy – maybe a paint job can rescue a poor figure. The question is can my painting rescue the figure or actually make it worse? Beauty as they say is in the eye of the beholder.

And I have found to my eye that a base I like significantly enhances my figures – when looked at on the table at about 3 feet of course.

So actually close ups on screen are probably not that helpful in some cases. Anyway here goes.

Strelets 1/72 Normans from a mixture of their boxed range at about 12 inches or 300mm

Essentially I based the figures on 80mm x 60mm laser cut MDF from pendraken miniatures, daubed on pva glue, emersed in a tray of budgie grit, shaken and set aside to dry. A day later, inverted to shake off the last loose material, it was out with the paints.

the budgie grit tray – the grain mix works even for 20mm figures

Then base paint. Now this base is the result of several attempts to get the right colour. I could say at this point I spent hours rerunning the La Vuelta vids poring over the helicopter shots for the right ground look but I would of course be fibbing or maybe not………

trials…….

I found I could get some wacky colour outcomes and actually the ones I thought would be too bright I decided would look better for a mediteranean location.

I discovered an old revell acrylic pot of “rust” was the best base colour (need to source an alternative as I don’t know anyone who stocks revell acrylics now given the dominance of vallejo and citadel).

And the ochre and then either ivory or white highlight came from B&Q and Johnstones sample pots. And then some final decoration.

I finished the base off with some greenery taking a cue from La Vuelta again and using bright green foliage. Lots of railway model suppliers provide a range of foliage plants.

And that wraps it up for now. I think the extra steps taken here are worthwhile and enhance the figures. I plan to do all my mediterranean medievals this way. Next problem is getting the table top to match.

Hope to see you soon.