Slitherine

I'm planning a new army, a Norman army and what could be more fitting than an invasion army led by Guillaume himself. Then I can get some juicy milites à pied to accompany my knights and foot.

I'm aiming for 800 points give and take a few.

My idea is the following:

IC (Guillaume)
3 TC's (have as many generals as possible is my general (!) impression) (Odo of Bayeux, and some of his likes)
4 BG's of Milites 4 bases apiece.
2 BG's of Milites à pied 6 bases apiece.
2 BG's of Spearmen 6 bases apiece.
2 BG's of Archers 6 bases apiece. use as light foot to get some skirmishing troops.
1 BG of Mob 10 bases apiece. (or 8 for the point purists)

Should come in at 801 or 797 points depending on the size of the mob.

Is this viable as an amry to use against (mostly) historical or a least in-time opponents.
It is scaringly sparse on shooting, but should pack a good punch in impact and melee.

The advantage is that it can almost duplicate as siculo-norman and first crusade army.

On a design note: Plan is to buy from Khurasan miniatures, is that a good idea ?


Thanks in advance

Esben

Eidt: Spelling

Hello Esben.

I am a noob, and have looked at FoG army lists a lot more than I have the rules, so I will not comment on how well your army list might perform. I will note however that (whenever the leads are found again) I intend to do a Norman army very similar to yours. The only real changes that I had in mind for mine were to avoid the mob and to run the archers as MI. Just my guess though, since I do NOT have a working knowledge of FoG rules. Yet.

On modelling the army I can offer some advice. The Khurasan minis are gorgeous, based on the photos in their website. I have not seen them in lead but have read good reviews for their casting and sculpting quality which satifies me that the lush photos are representative.

I have been collecting 15mm Normans for about 20 years, and have minis from ranges no longer available. Based on comparison with those other manufacturers, I would say the Khurasan Normans are as good as any others out there. To me, the Khurasan poses and flair are the best that are or have been on the market. They are truly beautiful sculpts, and capture the fierce spirit depicted in the Bayeaux Tapestry.

Having said that, you might want to consider a robust mix with other manufacturers as well. This is purely a personal aesthetic preference of course, but I think an army benefits from have some units in more passive, and others in more active, aggressive postures. If the whole army looks the same - regardless of whether it is active or passive, the look is diminished, IMO. A miniatures army is - besides being a form of game marker - a large and mobile diorama. Passive plus Active poses is just another form of high contrast - like light and dark values or complementary colors - to help punch up the army to a more exciting and dramatic appearance. Khurasan provides a nice scale comparison chart here: http://khurasanminiatures.tripod.com/scale.html

Other ranges I would suggest looking at to possibly mix with Khurusan are Essex and Two Dragons - these are my fravorites. Musueum make some fine minis as well, especially the cavalry, and these will work if mixed in in sparing numbers. The scale is a bit large and the proportions are eccentric, but they are well worth working into the mix.

If figure selection is a bit intricate, painting suggestions are wonderfully direct, and the best supported of any ancient or medieval army. Just go to the Bayeux Tapestry, and paint what you see for shield patterns and clothing styles and colors. The colors are not bright, but they are astonishingly rich, vivid and varied.

Good luck with your Northmen!

Historical opponents will be difficult for the Milites to break down, I found my Anglo-Danish spear bounced or routed the evil invaders 9/10 times, the 10th some crap dice saw me disrupt and that led to my demise.

Watch out for long hills, and Anglo-Danish generals wearing eye protection !

Scrumpy wrote:Historical opponents will be difficult for the Milites to break down, I found my Anglo-Danish spear bounced or routed the evil invaders 9/10 times, the 10th some crap dice saw me disrupt and that led to my demise.

Watch out for long hills, and Anglo-Danish generals wearing eye protection !

LOL! I am sooooo tempted to do Anglo-Danes in 25mm! Not enough time or whoopee money to do that right now though. Glad to hear the Anglo Danes are competitive. They were my first ancients army, and I had 10 years of bad luck after selling them . . .

It's a decent army.

4 milities an 2 1 pied are pretty powerful.

I am thinking make 1 milite a 6 to be the battering ram to try and break through and survive losses.

It is certainly a solid force.

I do favor the Italo-Norman. I mean you can conquer wine country not a swampy meager cold place than William took.

THe anglo-danish in 25mm should be robust.