From MikeD - Breaking the ice with some Norman knights (120 pts)

The goal for my Challenge this year is to make some headway into building up my historical wargaming armies. During the past couple of years I think most of what I've painted have been skirmish and board game figures. A lot of GW and painting-for-its-own-sake projects. Probably because the possibilities for putting big armies on the table has been so limited. Anyhow, this past November I went to my first Historicon since the pandemic started, and it lit my fire for getting back to my hobby roots. It's been a minute that I took on a big army project. 

Over last summer I read a couple of books about the Normans in Italy that really got my imagination working on getting an army together I could use for Italo-Norman and Kingdom of Sicily. ('Normans in the South and Kingdom in the Sun, both by John Julius Norwich). After shopping through all the figures on sale at the show (Conquest, Vitrix, Gripping Beast) I decided I didn't love any of them and I wound up ordering Perry Crusaders by overseas mail, because you know, wargamer.

So here is the first batch of what should be several entries of Normans over the next couple of months. (By this point I feel that there are certain ranges that have appeared in the Challenge over the years that they 'Need No Introduction') And that's just from me; I've seen at least one set of Norman knights already in this years edition.

Also, let me say how happy I am to back in the Challenge. I believe this is my sixth year. This past year the profile of the Challenge seems to have increased, and I've heard a lot of my favorite podcasters and bloggers talking about their participation. It's just increased the connection  I feel with so many talented people who share love for their hobby.

So the math should be pretty straightforward here:

12 28mm mounted @10 pts each = 120 pts.

From Millsy:

Lovely brushwork Mike. There's something properly menacing about ranks of Norman cavalry. I should know, I have some too and coincidentally used Perry Crusaders as well. Yours really look the part. That diamond blue and white shield is a corker and really makes your commander pop. The basing is spot on too.

It's great to hear you getting the same sort of buzz from participating mate. That's just what the Challenge is all about. Keep it coming!