Saxons and Vikings in Byzantine armies

GaryL · Post by **GaryL** » Sat Jul 12, 2008 8:34 am

I want to take my existing saxons and vikings and morph them into a Byzantine army with mercenary allies. I'm not really familiar with the Eastern side of the Roman empire though so I have a few questions before investing in the army list book:

Approximately when did these sorts of mercenaries serve the empire? I'm assuming the 8th to 10th centuries.

Can I mix saxons and vikings, and potentially Normans as well, in a Byzantine army?

What proportion of these troops to native Byzantine forces would be allowable?

What would be good native Byzantine troops to field along with the mercenaries? And, bearing in mind the proprtions required, how many bases am I going to need?

Thanks,

Gary

nikgaukroger · Post by **nikgaukroger** » Sat Jul 12, 2008 11:33 am

Rus started to be used in the late C10th as I recall and it was from these that the Varangian guard evolved.

Some Normans were used alongside these in the C11th - but not large numbers. You will only be able to use a minority of your Saxons, Vikings and NOrmans in a Byzantine army.

peleset · Post by **peleset** » Sun Jul 13, 2008 10:32 am

Not an expert but have painted a Nik Byzantine army and toyed with doing Komnenan under another rules set.

Hmm, thats a bit of a dodgy qualification.

I thought that after Manzikert the Byzantine army would have involved quite a high proportion of mercenaries. After 1066 an influx of Saxons into the Varangians to join the Rus, http://i65.photobucket.com/albums/h220/ ... ntine2.jpg
I thought I read somewhere that Harald Hardrada had served in the Varangian Guard, to serve along side the much sought after Frankish knights.
http://i65.photobucket.com/albums/h220/ ... ntine4.jpg

Alfred Duggans Count Bohemond and Lady for Ransom are good reads if your interested in this era and provide me a good bit of inspiration while I was painting them.
http://i65.photobucket.com/albums/h220/ ... neTent.jpg