From StuartL - Normal Normans Exceeding the Norm - 260 Points

Hello again.

For my second post today, I present a Norman Warband for Saga, or a part of one at least. I already have some models painted for this project, so this is largely just bulking up my force to allow for more options when I field them. 

First of all, a few cavalry models. The mini in front holding the baguette?? is meant to represent Bishop Odo of Bayeux, William the Conqueror's half brother, who accompanied him on his attack on England. He became the Earl of Kent, regent of England and eventually died on his way to Palestine during the First Crusade. Accompanying him are two regular Norman knights.  Odo and the left hand model are from Foundry, the guy with the sword is from Conquest Games.

Here we have 8 crossbowmen, all metal minis from Wargames Foundry. The models are okay, but some of their faces are a little weird when viewed close up. 

And to provide more ranged support, 10 archers from Conquest Games. As plastic Dark Age archers go, the figures are all pretty good, especially when compared to the competing kit from Gripping Beast. Conquest made the rather odd design decision to have the arms attach midway between the elbow and the shoulder, which made assembling these guys in believable stances tough. I do like that they included left handed options (The model in the centre of the front rank), something that most companies never bother with.

Though Saga doesn't allow Normans to take heavy weapons, the plastic infantry kit from Conquest includes some double handed axes, which I have used for these 5 chaps. The Normans were originally of Viking stock and as such would have been familiar with the use of these weapons. I'll probably just mix them in with regular troops, or perhaps field them as a special unit some time. 

And here we have the bulk of the force, 22 warriors equipped with spears, swords and shields. Rather than faff about with transfers, I hand painted all of the shields in simple striped patterns. I then added a little weathering using a sponge. This had the dual effect of adding a bit more character to the patterns and also hiding some places where my lines weren't as straight as I would have liked. 

And to finish, a shot of the force as a whole. 45 infantry and 3 cavalry models to bolster my forces. I do have some more cavalry models to do, so I may add some more to this warband before the end of the challenge, but I do have a lot of other things in my painting queue. At some point, I would like to refight the Battle of Hastings as I already have a large army of Anglo-Saxons and some Breton allies for these Normans. I'm torn between adding reinforcements from Footsore's metal minis or Victrix's new plastics as they both look superb. The realist in me tells me that I will probably get both. 

Anyway, for my Challenge score, we have:

45x 28mm infantry at 5 points each for 225 points.

3x 28mm cavalry at 10 points each for 30 points.

For a grand total of 255 points.

Boom!  That's quite the force of Normans Stuart, if you've exceeded the norm does that make them para-Norman?   i am not a big Saga fan as I find them pretty gamey, but I know many enjoy them.

Bishop Odo is one the of the great characters of the Conquest.  Who knows, maybe a three day old baguette would be just as effective as the wooden club he carried at Hastings in order to avoid bloodshed!  Gotta love this many hand painted sheilds too, but you clearly need more knights.  I've upped the point total for the shields.